Waking Destiny
by Kanokirri
Summary: Sequal to Fate of Awakening Love. Includes much more Slash than Fate. Will have in later chapters. Also later, hot lemons, violence and a bunch of other stuff.
1. Prologue

A/N: Alas, I have finally started writing this! Welcome to Waking Destiny the sequel to Fate of Awakening Love. This is meant to take place immediately after Fate in the inn after Kagome and Nira bring back Drizzt, Entreri and Jarlaxle. When we last left our hero's, they had just gotten back from this huge battle in Matron Malice's fortress. Now back at the inn, the half drow woman Luna informs Kagome of the demon's name.

Disclaimer: I do not own Drizzt, Artemis Entreri, Jarlaxle and Kimmuriel or anyone else I may choose to borrow from R.A. Salvatore, they belong to him. Kagome belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. Everyone else is most likely mine, differentiations will be made.

_The story continues..._

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_When the fires died down Kagome raced over to the others. Nira followed close behind her, his hands covered in blood. His claws easily sliced through the shackles that held the others. The three were once again __unconscious__, but that was alright. Carefully they picked up the other three. Kagome carrying Drizzt, Nira carrying the other two. Together they ran out of the cave and back to the inn where Kimmuriel was waiting for them with Luna._

_The moment they saw their sleeping friends they got up so the others could be lain down. They weren't terribly hurt. Kagome and Nira only sported minor injuries of their own, they would heal easily enough. Kagome looked over to Luna who was once again sitting on the edge of the bed. "What are you doing here?" she asked._

_"I have more information for you. We learned the demon's name." Luna replied._

_Kagome's eyes went wide for a moment. "What is it?"_

_The half drow swallowed hard and then looked deeply into her eyes. "Zakhra."_

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_Waking Destiny _

Prologue: The Name

It hit her like a brick....

How long had she waited? How long had she been hunting him?

How many times must she relive it....

Kagome fought off the memories. She couldn't afford to lose herself right now. She had a job to do she reminded herself. Her friends were still in danger. "You're sure?" she asked the half drow.

Luna nodded. "There's no mistake. Witnesses have described him as perfectly as you have yourself. I wish it could be different."

Kagome said nothing and turned away. The others looked over at her worried. Even Kimmuriel could not hide his confusion. He could not understand why the name of the demon had made her so upset. For a moment in his mind he saw the image of a man and then the flash of fire. The image quickly vanished as Kagome realized the slip. She didn't want him to know.

She didn't even want to think about it herself.

Kagome let out a deep sigh. "What do we do?" She still did not turn to face Luna.

"We find him. We find out what he's looking for and what he's planning. We do what ever we can to stop him, you know that."

Kagome took a few deep breaths to calm herself and then nodded slowly. Luna was right. She did know that.

But this was going to be very hard for her to do.

She wished she could go home and to her secret spot. She couldn't though, and Kagome reminded herself that she needed to face this head on if she was going to keep her friends safe. She didn't want to lose anymore.

The young woman silently left the room to go to her own. Even if there was no more fighting it was going to be a long night.

Kagome lay down on her bed and tried again to fight off the memories and the tears. But it was too much and the young woman cried herself to sleep.

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_The man walked silently out of his bedroom, leaving his wife to sleep. _

_He went into the living room with his young daughter. He gently picked her up and kissed her on the cheek. The little girl gave a happy giggle as he set her down. They had had good day full of playing and happiness._

_Later that night...._

_Someone banged on the door. It sounded as loud as thunder. The little girl knew that there was something wrong and wanted her brother. But her brother was at a friend's house._

_Her father ran to the door. He knew something was wrong too. He had his weapons in hand. His wife was not far behind him, she had her weapons too._

_She told the little girl to hide under the couch and the little girl instantly obeyed. The door was thrown down not shortly after._

_From under the couch the little girl heard someone say some very bad words. It wasn't her father. There was a bad man in the house. Her father yelled back and told the bad man to leave. She heard someone draw their weapons. Her father yelled again and her mother did too, more sounds of weapons being drawn._

_She knew well the sound of steal on steal, he parents practiced frequently. But this time it was different._

_Her father screamed. Her mother screamed louder. She heard something heavy hit the floor but she didn't dare look out from the covers._

_The bad man laughed._

_The sound of things breaking filled the room. It got really hot. The little girl heard the bad man leave and she peeked out from under the couch cover._

_There was her father. Covered in blood and not moving. She crawled out from under the couch. Her mother was the same. She tried to wake them even as the house started to really burn. They didn't move._

_One of her father's friends was in the house now. He picked her up and away from her dead parents. He carried her out of the burning house as she cried hysterically._

Kagome sat up in bed sweating heavily. How many times did she have to relive it?

She drew her knees up to her chest and cried.


	2. Chapter 1: What Do We Do Now?

A/N: I'm going to tell more of Kagome's story in this one but it's still going to have everyone else's in it. I'm just not sure how. There's still a lot that needs to be said. I will also be bringing my character Kitana in more with this one.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Salvatore characters. I don't own Kagome. *has no intention to steal*

I don't think I'll have as many witty things to say with this one.

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Chapter One: What Do We Do Now?

The companions were sitting in one of their rooms at the inn again, attempting to make somewhat of a plan.

So far, they had come up with nothing.

"We can gather more information here." Luna was saying. "We know that he isn't that far from Memnon. He must have a new fortress somewhere near here, perhaps he has taken over one of the guild houses."

The theory made sense. If the demon wanted a place to hide during his conquest, Memnon was the place. Many guild masters would pay dearly for his services. They could easily be employed. Or taken over. Whichever came first.

In short they had to stop him.

But it wasn't that simple. First they had to find him, or at least what he wanted. Then when they found him there was the matter of actually defeating him. That in itself would be no small task.

They would need information.

And in Memnon, it was the easiest thing to get.

It wouldn't be too hard for Luna to do. The others could move from inn to inn and remain hidden Safety first.

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Luna found an old abandoned shack to hide in. The place wasn't actually that bad considering the city. It wasn't the greatest either. It would do for now. She was going to change tonight.

She laid down on the softest bit of ground the shack afforded. The burning feeling shuddered through her body. As always when she changed, she cursed the person who had cursed her. She squeezed her eyes shut, it always hurt more in this form. Changing back always hurt more.

She watched as her breasts collapsed back into her chest, revealing the well toned chest from before. Her hips narrowed and her waist became slightly wider. The pain grew between her legs, a graceful column erected itself in its place then went limp. His leg muscles thickened and he felt his center of balance return to normal. His arms returned to their rightful shape.

Hitori's body twisted in the final moments of the painful transformation. His features returned to their normal appearance and he sat up. His whole body was soaked with sweat. Hitori took a few calming breaths and removed the women's clothing he was still wearing. He lay back down naked for a moment. He needed to relax. He wouldn't be able to move if he didn't. He raised his arm above his head and put the back of his hand on his forehead. He wished that he would be rid of the curse soon, that was why he had agreed to go to Memnon in the first place.

But it would be much more difficult to get information as a male. He knew that his former masters were still alive. They still remembered what he looked like. They didn't know Luna. In that way, his curse doubled as a blessing. As long as things stayed the way they were. As long as his former masters didn't find out what he looked like in his female form.

Hitori knew that he had to hide now. As much as he hated to make Kagome wait, there was too much of a risk for him to go out as a male. She would understand, even if she didn't know his reasons why.

The half drow closed his eyes, he needed to sleep for a while. He wouldn't be of any use to his friends tired.

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_Meanwhile, in Calimport._

Kitana entered the Copper Ante casually. Most of the halflings recognized her and they quickly retrieved their leader.

Thus, by the time she sat down Dwahvel Tiggerwillies stood ready to be of service.

"Have you learned anything?" Kitana asked the halfling.

"Little, I only know that a guild master from one of the minor houses of Memnon has disappeared." Dwahvel replied honestly.

Kitana nodded, it was a start. She would relay the information to the others as soon as she could. For now she had other things to do. "And what about my new job?"

"A wizard from the Rakers guild wants another wizard from the guild taken care of. He's willing to pay a high price." Dwahvel folded her hands on the table.

Kitana nodded again and left the halfling's guild house. The wizard would only be a small task.

But that was how she made her living sometimes. In Calimport, she was just as feared as the legendary Artemis Entreri.

But unlike Entreri, few new her actual name.

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Later that night the authorities were baffled by the corpse of the wizard lying in his chamber. There was no sign of forced entry. No obvious wounds to the body.

There had been someone else in the room with him, but that was not unusual. The wizard was well known to have many ladies of the night visiting him.

On closer inspection, the body revealed a deep red rouge on the wizard's lips. There were slight burn marks on and around them as well.

The two investigators looked at each other with knowing expressions.

The assassin Kanashimi had struck again.

There was nothing they could do. Or rather, nothing they wanted to do. Assassinations were all too common place here. They had hired the assassin themselves.

After the investigators left and had declared the wizard's death to be of his own fault, the other guild members disposed of the body.

Nothing more was said of the incident.


	3. Chapter 2: Disapearances

A/N: Things might get a little far in-between. I am very, very busy for the time being. I'm hoping to write at least a chapter a day. I know a good part of what I want to write already, but there's still more planning to do. Please bear with me.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Salvatore characters, they're his. Kagome belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. Kitana and Hitori/Luna are mine.

You gotta read if you wanna know more.

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Chapter Two: Disappearances

"A guild master from one of the minor houses in Memnon is missing. Presumed dead. No one knows a thing about it, or either they just don't want to. This is Memnon after all." Luna was saying. The change had been a short one. "The house itself remains intact. All of the furnishings and servants are still there. Yet the master is missing. That's all my informant could find. She's looking into it more as she can. I think we should see."

"We can't just walk right in there. We'd be killed on sight." Entreri stated. Truthfully, the former assassin was safe enough going about the city. Nira looked enough like an elf to pass for one. The three drow and Kagome were another story.

The drow were not very well liked in the Calimshan area. There had been trouble with the ones in the Forest of Mir for a very long time. For the most part, those drow stayed away. But when one was spotted they were usually killed.

Kagome would fight a different battle all together. In Memnon, women were normally regarded to be the property of men. Any and all women were up for grabs. However, her weapons would most likely deter most of who tried to take her. Not to mention that she was a very skilled fighter. Kagome would most likely fare better than the drow.

Luna thought a moment on Entreri's statement. Actually, it was a fairly obvious one. People couldn't just walk into guild houses after all. She rolled her eyes. "Well, obviously. We have to find a way to get them to let us in."

"And how do you propose we do that? Entreri said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You're an assassin, aren't you?" Luna asked. "Get them to hire you. I'm sure someone inside wants someone taken care of."

"I'm not an assassin anymore." Entreri said. "I'm done with that."

"Do they know that?"

"No."

"Then what's the problem?"

Entreri looked up at her. He didn't know what the problem was. But that wasn't who he was anymore. He had given that up.

But it wasn't like he would be killing the people for money, that was how he had mde his living and he still did just that sometimes. He was getting information to catch, and kill, some crazy demon bent on taking over the world. So what was the problem? Entreri let out a frustrated sigh. So far, he could think of nothing. "When do we go?" he asked.

"I think we should wait a few days." Luna replied. "To wait to see if something happens. We must be absolutely sure that this is the place he's hiding."

The half drow did not receive any arguments. They would continue to wait for a few more days, then they would send Entreri and Kagome to the house. Those two would have an easier time finding out the truth than any of the others.

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_Later that evening..._

Zakhra stood in the throne room with one of his minions before him. "We will move tonight. Staying in one place will only compromise our plans. I have already located another guild house to take over. We will take only a few of the slaves from this one. Everything else must be destroyed. Leave no evidence of our presence."

His minion bowed deeply and nodded to his master. The place would be destroyed easily enough. By the time the night was over, there would be nothing left but the empty husk of a guild house. "And what of the new location Master?"

"I will see to that." The demon lord answered as he stepped into a teleportation ring. He vanished in a flash of bright blue light. The minion took this as his cue to begin the assault. At his call a hundred demons swarmed the inside of the guild house. The screams of dying slaves filled the air as they feasted. The whole thing took only ten minutes.

The minion let loose a spell and fire consumed the remainder of the guild house's occupants. After a short while, only the burnt out building remained.

During the "cleaning" of the other house Zakhra entered another, more extravagant one. He smiled wickedly as his eyes took in all the riches around him. This place would do nicely. He forced open the doors to the guild master's chambers. This would be too easy. The human didn't even wake.

The house was his in only an hour. Once the soldiers learned of their master's demise few of them were foolish enough to fight the demon lord. The ones that had been were slaughtered before the others and left on the floors to rot. After the first three were killed, no more dared rise against the demon.

Zakhra's minions filled the house before sunrise.


	4. Chapter 3: The Empty House

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update, it's been a long week. Chapter two was a little on the short side, sorry about that. I'll try to make the next few a bit longer and not so much filler. There's a lot more plot to this one than there was in Fate of Awakening Love, I think that Fate was more of a way for me to set the setting and stuff like that. But for real, I'm trying. Please don't kill me if updates get farther apart.

Disclaimer: Drizzt and Co.(including Dwahvel) belong to R.A. Salvatore. Kagome belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. *Has no intent to steal*

Just read.

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Chapter Three: The Empty House

The house was empty now and everyone who looked knew it. How a guild house was completely destroyed from the inside was beyond them. Maybe a wizard had gotten angry and done it.

But if that was the case, then why was there no one left? A wizard surely would have taken over the house instead of destroying it. And any guild master would have made it part of their territory.

It was a perplexing mystery, but one that the authorities did not care enough to solve. Things like this happened all the time in Calimshan. Why would this be so different? It was just another destroyed guild house who's master had vanished not a week before. The house itself was burned sometime during the night. The absence of bodies did disturb them somewhat though, no charred remains of any previously living being had been found.

Regardless of their own feelings, the lawmen told the people that a wizard had disposed of everything inside. The people, desperate as it was, bought the story for the most part and went about their business. These were things that did not concern them. It was just another guild war.

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When Luna reported this to the companions the day after it happened, they knew instinctively that it was the demon lord who had been behind it. While they hated that they lost such a close chance to kill him, the knew that it would most likely turn out for the better that they still had time to plan. They put the incident somewhat hesitantly behind them, they still had to find out what had happened inside the guild house.

Kagome and Entreri went out to the house as planned. The guards gave them no problems what so ever when they saw the weapons the pair carried and the two were quickly let inside.

"Demons." Kagome said as she looked around the main room. "A lot of demons. That would explain why there's nothing left of the people inside."

Entreri gave her a questioning look. He didn't quite understand what she was getting at. And the way she had said it so offhandedly, that made him feel even more uneasy.

"Some demons eat humans. Or any of the mortal races." Kagome continued. "And sometimes they eat other demons. In any case, when they feed in large numbers as this there isn't usually anything left behind in the way of remains."

"So this demon lord didn't want to leave any trace of his presence." Entreri said doubtingly as he looked around. To him, it was obvious that the demon lord had been there even if he had never encountered him personally. He sensed the presence like a tingle in his spine, it was very clear.

"To those in the city perhaps." the girl replied, "But he knows we're looking for him and such an exit would do him no good. He must have another reason for burning the place."

"He doesn't want us to find anything that could lead us to him" the former assassin offered. "Or anything that would give away some of his plans?"

Kagome nodded. "I think so. But he left his minions to do the work rather than doing it himself."

Entreri gave her a grin showing he knew what she was leading to. "You think they forgot something." he stated, fully agreeing with the possibility.

"Perhaps." was her wistful reply as she started to search the rooms more closely. Entreri quickly followed her lead.

Their thorough investigation yielded nothing. The pair returned to the inn after half a day of examining the area. Together, all of he companions decided that the guild house was no longer part of their search. They would still send Luna out to investigate. They would also send Kimmuriel with her in case she ran into any trouble. The burnt out house suggested that the demon lord knew they were close and had decided to move his base of operations as a result.

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_Meanwhile, somewhere in the North..._

"How is it we got to Silverymoon from the island so fast, but now we are going so slow?" Vierna asked. She had been wanting to know this for a while now, and now she was fed up with waiting.

"Does it really matter?" Shiara asked.

Vierna's face became a somewhat pouty expression, but she said nothing. She knew he was hiding something from her. Most likely a lot of things. Shiara gently raised his hand to her cheek and lightly caressed it. "I used some of my magic to get us around faster after I put you to sleep. I can't keep you asleep and use that magic for long anymore, so unfortunately we must go slower. And now I also have the jewel to conceal."

"People want this jewel?" the drow female asked.

"People, demons mostly. That's why I have to hide it."

"Who are you bringing it to?" Vierna asked. The question had just blurted out of her mouth.

The elf's expression became slightly pained for a moment. "I guess you could call her my daughter even though she isn't really. I took her in after her parents were killed. She's the only one who can use the jewel for good without any greed. At least, the only one I know of. It was perfectly pure when she had it."

This time, Vierna said nothing. At least she had some idea of where they were going now. And she wouldn't be asleep the whole time, that was good. She noticed then that the elf still had his hand on her face. His expression had changed to something she was not familiar with. Affection perhaps? No one had ever looked at her that way before. She watched as he quickly wet his lips with his tongue and took a step towards her.

At first her instincts told her to run, but Vierna remained rooted to the spot. She felt like she had when she had explored his face. He wrapped his arm gently around her and she didn't try to pull away when his lips met hers.

The kiss was brief and Shiara pulled away as fast as he had kissed her. "We better get going." He said and he started off along the path again.

She followed him silently for the rest of the night.


	5. Chapter 4: Partners

A/N: Here's chapter four as promised. Just a few things to point out real quick, first the thing with Vierna and Shiara. I had to put a scene in with them as a reminder that they are still part of the story. Fate started on a whole bunch of relationships and their's was one of them. Second, Drizzt still doesn't know that Kagome is Secret, he'll find out soon enough now that he knows that she knows who he is. Third, the thing about Nira and Shiara looking like elves but they're not, I based that look on Sesshoumaru in Inuyasha. It's the whole pale skin/pointy ears thing. Those two are in humanoid form. Artemis doesn't have pointy ears because he's in human form, however if he chooses to become a full demon, he can choose to have pointy ears. My character Kitana has only slightly pointy ears. And finally, Shiara is a demon but Vierna doesn't know it yet because he's hiding it from her, that's why he puts her to sleep when he runs.

Disclaimer: Drizzt and Co. belong to R.A. Salvatore. Kagome belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. Kitana and Hitori/Luna are mine.

I think I made this part long enough. (Contains some suggestive dialogue)

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Chapter Four: Partners

The new inn they were staying in was no better than the other one. If anything, it was filthier. Quite unpleasant for the two elves as they entered their room. Luna and Kimmuriel did not openly complain, it was shelter after all. The roof over their heads was solid and kept them from the rain that now poured over the desert in a rare appearance. Lightning streaked across the sky in a brilliant display of white and blue, the desert thunderstorm was definitely a unique spectacle to behold.

"Not much we can do now." Luna said. "The rains will keep any activities at a stand still."

"You are from here?" Kimmuriel asked.

"I am, for the most part. But I have not been here for a while." the half drow replied.

"Are you hiding from something?" Kimmuriel cocked his head to one side and tried to figure Luna out. There was something off about her. Maybe it was just because she was a half drow, and given his recent actions with Hitori he felt strange. He looked over her every feature, the two actually looked quite a bit alike.

"Maybe.." Luna answered under his gaze. It looked so familiar. He had looked at her like that before. 'No, he looked at _Hitori _like that before..' she said to herself. But it was the same look no less. Luna turned her gaze over to the window only half seeing the storm, her thoughts had gone elsewhere. 'I wish I could tell him...'

She looked back at Kimmuriel who was now standing directly in front of her. The desire lay unhidden in his eyes. Desire for her? He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a passionate kiss. His hands roamed her body, eagerly finding openings in her clothes. The psionicist's mouth left Luna's mouth and trailed soft kisses down her neck. Gingerly, she returned his touch. She had never been with a male in this form willingly.

Their breath became labored and she pulled him down onto the bed. Maybe it was time she did.

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_Back at the other inn..._

"It's so pretty.." Kagome said as she gazed wide-eyed out at the storm. She had seen many thunderstorms, they were fairly common in Japan, but somehow with them being in the desert, it made the storm seem more exotic. The others only smiled at her wonderment, she looked almost like a small child receiving a gift of sweets. She leaned forward onto the windowsill, her hands supporting her chin. Drizzt sat down next to her and she turned to give him a big smile, he retuned the look with a smile of his own and joined her in watching the storm.

Entreri just shook his head, slightly amused with the girl and the drow ranger. He would never deny the beauty of the storm but doubted that he would ever have such a reaction. He returned his concentration back to polishing his dagger. The weapon had become even more valuable to him since he found out that it had been his mother's. The Charon's Claw lay safely under one of the beds. He casually glanced at his right hand, he was not wearing the magic stealing gauntlet. As much as he hated to admit it, Entreri now felt nauseated when wearing it. Nira had told him that it had been his mother's downfall, and it had been. But for the last few years he had been wearing it, it had saved his life more than once. Without it he would not have been able to obtain the Charon's Claw in the first place. And what about the time he had rescued Jarlaxle from Crenshinibon? Had it not deflected a lightning bolt that would have surely killed him otherwise?

Entreri stopped his thoughts there. He was getting a headache.

It was late. They were all tired. There was no point on dwelling on such thoughts the former assassin told himself. He looked up from his dagger again only to see that most of the others were now sleeping. How long had he been staring at his hand?

Kagome looked over at him curiously. "Thinking about the gauntlet?"

At first he wanted to tell the girl to mind her own business. But during the time they had been traveling together he had come to respect her greatly. He nodded his response.

The girl got up and moved to sit on the floor in front of him. "I know that you don't like what it was used for before, but you know, you could use it for good."

Entreri raised an eyebrow and bade her to continue.

"It was used to harm many good people. Not just Lady Shanali. If you used it against Zakhra or others like him, then it would be good. You could turn their own weapon against them and that would be the perfect vengeance for you and your mother."

Entreri still said nothing. How could one so young be so wise? What she said made perfect sence, and the irony of it would make even drow bow their heads in acknowledgement. "How old are you?" he asked her finally. He had been wanting to know for a while.

"Seventeen." she answered.

"And you fight like that?"

Kagome let out a small laugh. "I've trained for most of my life. I started learning martial arts when I was two and started using weapons when I was four. I also have a lot of people to learn from." She crossed her legs and leaned forward slightly. "My swords were my father's before I got them." she said.

Entreri said nothing, not sure of why she was telling him this.

"At first I didn't want to use them, " she continued. "I thought that I would never be as good as him and it would disgrace his memory. But then a friend of mine told me something." She paused and looked for the best way to continue, this was one of the few things she had never talked about with someone else. "He told me that it wouldn't be a disgrace to fail unless I gave up. That I should use my father's swords as he had, that way, I could grow into my own abilities but still have reinforcement. I only had to rely on my father's power once before, when I first fought against a horde of demons by myself. Since then, I've mastered my own power." She looked up at him and smiled. "Maybe you should try to do the same."

With that she got up and went to her own room. Entreri sat up thinking about what she had told him. He knew what she was talking about. He had fought a battle of wills with the Charon's Claw and won. But maybe that wasn't enough. Maybe he had to do the same with his dagger. The dagger had never tried to go against him, it had always been protective since he first used it. The Charon's Claw was like that too now. Was it because of his mother?

He shook his head again. It was all becoming a very bad headache.

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Luna lay awake long after Kimmuriel had fallen asleep.

How could she tell him? Would he believe her? The thoughts plagued her mind as she felt him curl into her. Their naked bodies pressed together more firmly and he nuzzled her neck in his Reverie.

Tears silently made their way down her face. How could this happen?

She loved him now. Hitori loved him too.

But who would he love?

She wanted to go run and hide somewhere. But they were partners. She couldn't abandon him. She wouldn't abandon Kagome.

Luna let out a defeated sigh and she felt Kimmuriel tighten his grip on her. Apparently he had heard. Did he hear her thoughts as well? Was this his unconscious way of telling her not to leave?

'Why cant I just go back to normal...'she thought.

The curse made her live two lives. Luna was born the male Hitori, and had been Hitori for 230 years. Over the last five he had changed into the female Luna. That stupid wizard of his former master had done this and then got killed. He had run from his master almost fifteen years ago now....

The wizard had found him. His master wanted his favorite pleasure slave back...

Hitori was captured by his half demon master just after he had turned 196. He had been a slave for the better part of twenty-four years before he was able to escape. He had been running ever since. That was why he didn't like moving around Memnon. Being Luna made this easier, but he could not control when he changed. She knew that Hitori's master was still looking for him. And if he ever found Hitori, then his life was forefit.


	6. Chapter 5: Something New?

A/N: Ok sorry for all of the mistakes in my stories. I was well aware of most of them before and I just wasn't paying as much attention as I should have. So again, I apologize. If anyone has bothered to read this far, I might go back and replace a few things. I had a few things pointed out to me and I will keep those corrections in mind as I continue writing. I've already corrected Why?.

Disclaimer: Drizzt and Co. belong to R.A. Salvatore, I'm just borrowing them for a while.

Ok I swear I'll proof read better now!

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Chapter Five: Something New?

Zakhra stood in the main hall of his new fortress pleased by what he saw around him. The guild master of this house knew him for what he was and had instantly given him control. He was one of those..fanatic types. The guild master had thrown himself at the demon lord's feet in worship. The human would be a useful tool.

Now, all if the house's occupants would be at his disposal. He could use them as spies in the city.

A wicked smile spread across his face and the demon lord began to laugh.

Soon, the world would be his.

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Entreri sat staring at his jeweled dagger once again. He had been thinking intently on what Kagome had told him. But what could he do? He tightened his grip on the hilt of the weapon, it offered no resistance as he willed it to use its vampiric powers.

It was strange to do this with it having a body to feed on, yet it was working in a different way. He felt the pulse as energy started to flow from the air itself through the weapon and into him. Entreri commanded the dagger to stop and it did at once, but now the pulsing feeling remained. There was a new heated feeling traveling through his arm.

For a moment he saw something. A flash of someone somewhere else. Who ever the hell it was, he was laughing hard at something. He believed that something very good had happened.

Entreri shook himself out of the trance. His dagger had never done that before. He sheathed the weapon and put his head in his hands. The former assassin could hear his heart pounding in his chest.

He heard the door open and someone walk in. He could tell by the boots that it was Jarlaxle. "My friend, what have you been doing in here all alone?" the elf asked. It was hard to tell right now if he was truly concerned.

With his luck, Jarlaxle was probably more worried about the state of his clothes. Entreri noticed now that his body was bathed in sweat. He needed a bath. The former assassin silently got up and left the room, he didn't bother explaining himself to the drow.

He locked the door to the bathroom and got into the tub. Maybe the hot water would help him mull things over. Things had gotten so strange lately and for one that had been traveling with _Jarlaxle_ for so long, that was saying something. 'Maybe I should talk to Kagome...'

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His mouth moved eagerly up her body as it had the previous night. She tasted sweet in his mouth.

Beneath him she writhed contently and let out a soft sigh. Luna knew that they should not be doing this lest she change, but she could not help it. The female emotions were too strong right now. She could not resist.

Kimmuriel kissed her lips again and then licked his way down her torso and between her thighs. He nipped at the inside of one then teasingly licked her soft, wet flower. She bucked up her hips at that and he did it again, this time more firmly. The psionicist was enjoying this as much as she was. He swirled his tongue around her entrance and then once more placed himself on top of her.

She smiled up at him and he positioned himself at her entrance and thrust himself in. Luna spread her legs wider to allow him more room, he took the hint and began to push harder. Then to tease her more, he pulled himself out completely. Then thrust back in hard. Twice. Three times. Four. He felt her orgasm as if he himself were having it. He would have his own release soon if he kept this up.

He stopped the teasing then and began more slow, rhythmatic movements that drove them both crazy. The half drow wrapped her legs around his waist in ecstacy and he placed more hot kisses on her neck.

They kept going until they could no longer move. By then it was well into the evening.

The possibility of changing burst into Luna's mind. They couldn't keep doing this she scolded herself. There was too much of a risk.

But it felt so good...


	7. Chapter 6:The Problem With Guild Masters

A/N: Alright, I fixed one of my other stories. I might go back and fix Fate. I did notice a lot of mistakes in the first few chapters that need to be fixed. I don't know if I will get around to correcting everything but I will actually start really looking over my chapters now. Half of these I didn't even look at after I wrote them. If you notice that I missed a few things from this point on, please feel free to let me know. I'm not going to bite any heads off. I'm going to just start calling Entreri an assassin again because it's throwing me off to always type 'former assassin'.

Disclaimer: Drizzt and Co. belong to R.A. Salvatore. Kagome belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. I'm just borrowing them. My characters so far include: Hitori/Luna, Kitana, Nira, Shiara and Zakhra as well as anyone else you do not recognize.

And just so we're clear, my Kitana is not the one from Mortal Kombat. She's a different one and I'm just using the name because I like it.

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Chapter Six: The Problem With Guild Masters

The rain had slowed down greatly. Now it was just a soft downpour. Luna and Kimmuriel had taken the opportunity to go back to the others though they had learned nothing. They would have to rely on any reports from the half drow's informant friend.

When they entered the room they found that Entreri and Kagome were now deep into some kind of discussion.

"So you're saying that I can draw energy from outside energies?" the assassin was saying. The girl nodded. "But what about the vision?" he asked.

"I don't think that it came from the dagger specifically. I think it came either from your own power or Lady Shanali's inside you. The dagger acted as a conduit for the energy. That in turn sparked the vision." Kagome explained. "It's probably something important. What did the person look like?"

Entreri shrugged. "I cannot be sure. I know that he was pale, that stood out. And his eyes were glowing red. He had fangs and claws and a scar on his face. From his left eye to the middle of his cheek. that's all I could really make out."

Kagome narrowed her eyes. _That_ sounded familiar. "What about the room?" she asked. "What did that look like?"

"It was definitely in one of the noble houses of Memnon. It had gold lined tapestries and imported vases everywhere. The walls were all whitewashed and the floor was marble. There were huge arches that make me think it's in the western district of the city. Those were stone. The room itself was circular with a fountain on the far right side." Describing that room had been much easier than he thought it would be. Maybe it was because he was so familiar with the structures of the city. Entreri didn't think much more on it, Kagome was staring blankly at him.

"So the location is more important." she said after a moment.

"What do you mean?"

"When you see a place with a person and the place is clearer, it usually means that something is going to happen there very soon. The person you saw was definitely Zakhra, I gave him that scar myself. But we have company now." Kagome turned and looked over to Luna and Kimmuriel who were staring dumbfounded at them. Luna, Kagome noticed wore a slightly pained expression. Perhaps she knew something. "Anything?" the girl asked.

Luna shook her head. "The rain was too intense. This is the first time we've left the other inn. We haven't heard anything from Kitana yet. I'm expecting her soon." The half drow sat down next to Kagome. Her movements were slightly awkward, she was going to change soon. "We must wait more."

The others nodded. The wait was becoming irritating but it was necesary. The other three returned then. They had gone to investigate in the sewers. "Anything?" Entreri asked Drizzt. The ranger shook his head. Nothing. Not even a wererat.

"I guess we have to wait for Kitana." Kagome said. "Is she in Memnon now or still in Calimport?"

"She should be in Memnon." Luna replied.

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Kitana silently stalked the back hallway of the noble's house. Another job.

This time a guild master wanted something that was stolen from him (supposedly) from a nobleman. It was of the utmost importance that this item be retrieved. If the nobleman was killed in the process, all the better. She shook her head in disgust. Always the same thing with these people. She decided that she would not kill the nobleman unless absolutely necesary. He was likely innocent of stealing the item anyway, if not for anything else.

The nobleman's room was simple to find. The lock was flimsy at best. Kitana easily picked it and entered the room. The nobleman was not inside.

Kitana carefully stepped through the room over to one of the dressers. She found what she was looking for inside the first drawer she opened. The ruby set inside the gold ring flared for a moment when she touched it. She narrowed her eyes, something was off about this. She cast a small spell to give her the ring's enchantments. Magic reversal, fire use and protection, clairvoyeace and a spell for harming demons specifically. It was a powerful item.

The door opened behind her, Kitana did not bother to turn around. The nobleman let out a scared gasp when he saw her. The demoness gave a small smirk and turned around to face him. "Do you know what this is?" she asked calmly holding up the ring between two fingers.

"It...it's a ring...from my family. I...I've had it -it for ages. Part of my family for centuries..." the nobleman stuttered.

Kitana cocked her head to one side. "For centuries?" she asked. The nobleman nodded fearfully. "You did not steal it from a guild master?"

The nobleman tried several times to respond, he failed each time. The look on his face made it clear to the demoness that he was not lying.

"I'm taking this." she stated as she pocketed the item and left through the open window.

The nobleman fell to the floor and thanked every god he knew of that he was still alive.

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Kitana hid in an empty building and examined the ring more closely.

It was strong, but it could only use one of the enchantments before it was useless. Or perhaps, all of them at once would work. But that would take a master spell caster. Kitana was not foolish enough to put the ring on and use it. She would need someone who specialized in magical items to examine it before she did. She considered her options. Kagome was traveling with a psionicist, maybe he would take a look.

But for now she had another problem. The person who hired her would want the ring.

The demoness thought on this for a moment. It was not his in the first place (it wasn't hers either but she intended to keep it) he would not be receiving it. This was exactly why she had not killed the nobleman. Her expression became a smirk as she made her way back to the guild house. The guild master had some explaining to do. She didn't bother to knock as she barged into the guild master's floor. He sat up in his chair upon seeing her.

"Do you have it?" he asked desperately.

"Perhaps." Kitana replied tauntingly.

"Damn you!" the guild master yelled. "Do you have it or not? I will have no games from you!"

The demoness held her playful smile. "Why do you want it?" she asked slyly.

"No more games!" The guild master screamed. "Hand it over!" He didn't seem to remember just who it was he was talking to.

Kitana cracked a wide grin. "No, I don't think I will. It isn't yours."

The man lunged at her and tried to grab her by her throat. He missed (of course) and Kitana grabbed him and slammed him into his desk. "Why do you want it?" she asked again. The man refused to say anything so she tightened her grip on his throat. He tried to say something but he couldn't quite get it out. Kitana loosened her hand slightly. "Say again." she commanded.

The guild master let out a pained gasp. "It was ordered of me by someone among the high nobles. I was offered a great amount of gold for it."

"Who was the person?" Kitana demanded. The guild master would not say at first and she closed her hand around his throat again to prompt him.

"I-I know not!!" he gasped.

Kitana scowled, the man was telling the truth. That was the problem with guild masters, they lied until their lived were almost at an end, And even then they weren't completely honest. She knew what was coming next.

"I know that it was a man agent from House Seiros." he offered. The name of one of his bigger rival houses. "If you went to them they could tell you."

Always at the expense of others.

"I'll do that." she replied as she slit his throat with her claws. She left him lifeless on the floor and she fled unseen into the night.


	8. Chapter 7: Why Do Fools Fall In Love?

A/N: Ok much better than before with my last chapter. I looked everything over. Hopefully, you're following this. I honestly don't feel like doing a recap. Not much else to say right now so I'll just leave you to read.

Disclaimer: Drizzt and Co. belong to R.A. Salvatore. Kagome belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. I'm just borrowing them.

Warning: Sexual content. Right at the beginning.

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Chapter Seven: Why Do Fools Fall In Love?

Kimmuriel and Luna were given a room to themselves. The other one had too many people already. Unlike before, this was starting to bother the half drow. She knew she was going to change soon, she could feel it.

The psionicist slipped his arms around her from behind and kissed her neck. He wanted more.

Luna inwardly scolded herself. She should not be doing this right now. At all. But her body betrayed her and yielded to his touch. His tongue slid from the base of her neck to her earlobe. She let out a soft moan and he led her to the bed.

She did not resist as he removed her clothes.

His hands slipped gracefully over her smooth skin. Luna allowed herself to touch him and her hands clung to his shirt and tore it off. Kimmuriel smirked at this motion. "Eager are we?" he purred. He nipped playfully at the tip of her ear.

She couldn't wait for him any longer. She ripped off his pants and thrust his erection inside her.

Kimmuriel groaned loudly and began to pump in and out fiercely.

Luna stopped her sounds abruptly. The pain coursed through her, stronger than ever. Tears slipped out of her eyes. "Kimmuriel stop!" she pleaded. But he seemed not to hear her. It was like he wasn't there at all, only he kept moving with her body.

She let out a sharp yelp as the change began, the psionicist took no notice. She was writhing under him now, in agony. Her muscles thickened and her breasts vanished once more. Her shoulders broadened. Hitori tried again to push Kimmuriel off but he would not be moved. The female flower had vanished and he had been moved down into the half drow's ass. Apparently he sensed this change of place and it encouraged him. His movements became more aggressive, he moaned louder.

"Kimmuriel please.." Hitori begged. Finally the drow opened his eyes. They widened in shock of the sight of Hitori beneath him. He pulled out roughly and didn't say anything. His expression was question enough though. "Kimmuriel please I can-" Hitori tried to explain. The psionicist's expression became angry. "Kimmuriel please. Let me-" This time his words were cut off by the resounding echoes of a slap. The half drow fell back and Kimmuriel grabbed his clothes and left the room.

Hitori fell to the floor and his tears fell more fiercely. What was he going to do now?

Slowly he got up and got out his clothes. At least he had thought to bring his bag. He dressed and left the inn through the window.

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Kimmuriel stormed into the other room. He easily lifted Kagome to her feet and held her against the wall. "You knew!" he accused.

"Knew what?" she asked as she struggled to get out of his tightening grip.

"Don't play games with me! You knew about Luna!" He yelled.

Kagome stopped moving and looked at him directly. "What did you do?" she asked calmly. The psionicist did not like the look in her eyes and set her down.

"I think that should be obvious." he said softly, his anger had been played out.

Kagome nodded. "Where is he?" she asked. The others had no idea what to think. Luna was female. Why would Kagome ask for a male?

"I left him in the room. I don't know if he's still in there." Kimmuriel now found himself extremely ashamed. He shouldn't have left.

The young woman's eyes still held their accusing glare. "What did you do to Hitori?"

Kagome did not wait for an answer, she ran down the hall to the other room.

The half drow was not inside.

"We have to find him!" she cried to the others.

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Hitori wandered absent mindedly through the city streets. He had nowhere to go.

Somewhere inside himself he knew that he should not have left the inn in such a state. Certainly not as a male.

But he didn't care.

Tears still spilled from his blue eyes he tried vainly to force them to stop. He vaguely sensed someone he knew nearby, but he did not call them out. He wanted to be left alone right now. Apparently the other person understood this and kept their distance. He found an empty building to hide in and collapsed to the rotting wood floor. What was he going to do?

Through his tears he failed to notice that someone else had followed him.

He only realized this when thick twine bound his hands together and strong hands gagged him. Whoever it as easily lifted the smaller elf off the floor and out of the house. The man let out a wicked laugh. "The master will be pleased to see you."

Hitori's eyes widened with fear. The master...

He was in trouble.

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This wasn't good. She had just watched Hitori be taken away by one of his former master's guards. Kitana raced to the inn where the others were staying.

She found Kagome alone in the room, still pacing. She was waiting to see if Hitori would return.

"Sorry to break up the party." she said. "But we have a real problem here."

The young woman turned to regard her.

"What happened?" Kagome asked.

"Hitori just got captured." Kitana replied darkly.

The young woman's eyes widened with fear for her friend. "By who?"

"One of his former master's guards. They're taking him to his old house."

Kagome began to pace the room anxiously. "We have to find him." She left the room to go retrieve Kimmuriel, the others had gone out searching for Hitori already.


	9. Chapter 8: It's About Time

A/N: Ok so now they have another problem. I'm so horrible. But if I didn't keep this up it would get really boring. I hate most stories that have just one probem through the whole thing. Isn't it a better adventure if there's more than one thing going on? That's the kind of thing that keeps people reading. And speaking of reading. I recommend that you check out the story Drizzt Goes To College by AmbrMerlinus. If you like humor it's definitely a good story. Personally, I love it.

For the record: Concerning Kitana, she's _very_ Catwoman-ish. That whole sexy walk and talk. Think Michelle Pfeiffer Catwoman for her. The voice and attitude works. She even has a whip. Just not the cat mask. And with Halle Barry's thinner figure.

Disclaimer: Drizzt and Co. belong to R.A. Salvatore. Kagome belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. I listed all of my characters in chapter six.

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Chapter Eight: It's About Time...

"What do you mean he got _captured_?" Kimmuriel demanded.

"Oh, sure, make it sound like it's all my fault. You're the reason he left in the first place!" Kagome yelled back.

They were in the drow's room. The young woman had just relayed the news Kitana had brought her a few minutes ago to Kimmuriel. He wasn't taking to it all that well. While she could understand that he was still in shock of what had happened, he had no right to go blaming her. The psionicist backed off after her last statement. He knew it was true. He followed her back to the other room where Kitana was waiting patiently.

Upon seeing him, the demoness narrowed her eyes. "What did you do to him?" she asked. She had heard everything that had transpired between the two that now stood before her.

Kimmuriel took an involuntary step back. Now he had _two_ angry women to deal with. "_Luna_ and I were in bed together. The next thing I know I was on top of Hitori. I panicked. I slapped him and left the room."

The two women's faces now held death glares that would make even Entreri proud. This was not good.

"I don't know what I was thinking!" the psionicist continued. "I panicked."

Kagome and Kitana were still angry with the drow, but their desire to rescue their friend held them in check. Honestly though, they wanted to beat Kimmuriel into a bloody pulp for hitting Hitori.

"You are going to help us rescue him." Kagome stated.

"If you don't, then we're going to kill you." Kitana finished coldly.

The tone of their voices left no doubt in Kimmuriel's mind. "What do we do?" he asked.

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"Any sign of him?" Drizzt asked Nira.

The demon sniffed the air delicately. There was only a small scent trail to follow to begin with but the rain made it fast fading. Nira picked up his pace as not to lose what was left of the trail. He led the others to a building not too far from the inn. Hitori's scent ended there. Nira sniffed the air again, the scent had pooled inside the building indicating that the half drow had been there for more than a few minutes. There was another, unfamiliar scent as well.

"Well, well, what have we here?" a voice drawled from somewhere in the room. "More prizes. The master will be pleased." The air in the house suddenly became sickly sweet. A dark mist permeated the room and the four companions fell to the ground.

A large man stepped out from the darkness to examine their fallen forms. Two drow, a human and a demon. Yes, the master would be pleased. He knew from Hitori that drow made good pleasure slaves. The human would break easily enough. The demon would take some work or be killed. The man carried the four back to his master's house. He knew he would be well rewarded.

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"No word from the others." Kagome stated. "I can't get a hold of them."

"We wont waste the time then." Kitana answered. "We'll go get Hitori now. If we run into them they'll just have to go along with us. If not, then they can wait here."

"You know where he is?" the young woman asked.

"I used to be in the same house for a while."

Kagome did not respond this time. She was aware of the fact that Hitori had been a pleasure slave (even though he never actually told her). She had not known that it was the same for Kitana. The young woman put those thoughts aside. Rescuing Hitori was more important than mulling over things she didn't know about her former rival.

"You have a plan?" Kimmuriel asked.

"You will go in as a emissary from the drow of the Forest of Mir. Or from Bregan D'aerthe. I don't care. You will get them to let you in at which point you will ask for Hitori as your slave for the night." Kitana stated. "We will go in and kill the master while you get Hitori away."

It was clear to Kimmuriel that he had no choice. Kitana knew the rules of the place better than he did. He could use one of his extra-dimmensional doors to get Hitori out.

The psionicist did not enjoy being ordered around. In all truth, Kitana reminded him of Entreri.

Perhaps the assassin would be her if he were a woman.

Kimmuriel did not want to think about that. "When do we leave?"

"Now."

The three of them left the inn within five minutes after making sure that the Charon's Claw and gauntlet were safe inside Kagome's pack. Something had told her that they would be needing it. They had to bring it to Entreri. Then it hit her. "The others have been captured too."

The other two looked at her curiously.

"Whoever captured Hitori got the others too." she elaborated. Kitana knew better than to question her on how she knew this and nodded. Kimmuriel, still under their threat on his life said nothing and followed them to the house where the others were.

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"Finally! We're in Memnon!" Shiara exclaimed. The journey had been far too slow for his liking. But he had Vierna with him and could not have used his full speed. It had become too much for him to keep putting spells on her while he ran.

He found Kagome's scent easily and traced it to an inn. She and her friends were not there.

Shiara noted the scent of a demon who he had not seen in a long time. There was that of a demoness as well, Kitana. What confused him however, was that Hitori's scent was there. Why would the half drow be here at all? He avoided Calimshan at all costs.

He knew that Hitori changed from male to female, the scent of the gender change proved that he had been there as a female. But then the scent changed to male. Maybe he thought that his former master had died and that it was safe for him to go about in his real body.

"I thought you said that they would be here." Vierna said after a few minutes, exasperated.

Shiara shrugged. "I thought they would. Maybe they got a lead. In any case, they'll be back. We will wait here."

"After all the time it took us to get here you want to wait?" she asked doubtfully. "What about that jewel?"

Shiara's brow furrowed for a moment. She had a point. "We will wait for now." he said. "I will know if something is wrong, and if something happens them we will go to them."

Vierna had to be satisfied with that.

Unknown to her, Shiara did sense that something was wrong. But at the same time he knew that he would not be needed. The jewel would be much safer if they avoided this battle. "Why don't you go to sleep?" he asked Vierna. "I will wake you before they get back."

Vierna did not feel like disagreeing with him and carefully laid down on one of the beds. She soon fell into her Reverie and Shiara stayed awake watching over her. He gently placed a hand on one of the amulets around his neck, its warmth told him that Kagome was worried about something. A picture of Hitori flashed into his mind. The half drow was in trouble. So were the others. Kagome, Kitana and the psionicist were going to rescue them.


	10. Chapter 9: A Change In Plans

A/N: Sorry about the random throw in with Shiara and Vierna. They just needed to make it known that they're still in the story. Again. But for now we shall focus on rescuing Hitori. And if any of you are curious, the whole thing from Fate about Entreri having the choice to become a demon, that will come up soon as well. I know, I really need to keep all my strings together. I realize that I contradicted myself in the last chapter, the rain dulled Nira's sense of smell but Shiara easily found Kagome's scent through it. Shiara and Kagome are connected through one of his amulets so it makes finding her easier for him.

Disclaimer: Drizzt and Co. belong to R.A. Salvatore. Kagome belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. All other characters are either mine or generic.

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Chapter Nine: A Change In Plans

"Alright, we'll take this a different way." Kitana said as they walked through the dark alleyways.

"Oh? You have another plan?" Kimmuriel asked sarcastically. The next moment he found himself against a wall. Kitana's glare held him still, making certain that if he continued like he had been he was going to die. He crossed his arms over his chest in the Underdark sign of surrender and she let him down.

"As a matter of fact, I do." She stated coldly. Her words sent shivers down the psionicist's spine. "Wait here." she told them. She stepped into a hidden door on the side of one of the buildings surrounding them and vanished. Kimmuriel felt himself fall to the ground. Yes, Kitana was just as bad as Entreri.

Kagome sat down next to him but did not offer any comfort. She was still mad at him, though she was not nearly as aggressive as the demoness. Kimmuriel still didn't want to piss her off. He liked having his life. He sat there silently not offering any comments.

Kagome set herself near the exit of the alley to keep watch. Kitana would be a little while she knew. They had to remain hidden if they meant to rescue Hitori and the others. She felt that the alley had anti-scrying spells on it, whoever owned the building Kitana had gone into was definitely prepared for private dealings. The building itself was protected as well. Kagome did not have to be told what kind of things went on inside, that was why Kitana told her to wait outside in the alley.

At least the demoness was thinking about her. But what exactly did she have in mind?

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Dwahvel was waiting for her inside. The halfling had been expecting her. "What happened now?" she asked.

"A mutual friend of ours and a few of his associates have been kidnapped." Kitana explained.

"A mutual friend?" Dwahvel asked. There were a few people she and the demoness had in common. But there was only one who had recently been in contact with anyone who knew Kitana. "Artemis?" the halfling gasped.

"Him, his drow friend Jarlaxle, two friends of mine and Drizzt Do'Urden." Kitana replied as they sat down.

"Do you know where they've been taken?" Dwahvel asked.

The demoness nodded. "House Da'Claria. My friend Hitori was taken back to his former master and the others went out in search of him but got captured as well. We need a way in."

"I see." said Dwahvel. "You're in luck. Pasha Da'Claria is hosting a formal party in his honor. I shall assume that this is the reason why. You could walk right in if you chose to, as long as you're dressed as a noble."

"Ah, you never fail me, my little friend." Kitana grinned, "No wonder Artemis likes you so much. But unfortunately, I have another problem."

The halfling raised an eyebrow. "And what is that?"

"I have with me a drow and a non-native girl." Kitana explained.

Dwahvel leaned onto her clasped hands and thought for a moment. "I believe that the pasha sent out an invitation to the drow in the forest. Two emissaries are permitted to enter."

A sly smirk spread across Kitana's face. "Or for an emissary and a slave perhaps?"

Dwahvel caught onto the game quickly. "Yes, I suppose. Do you have disguises?"

"No. I think we'll be fine. The drow can wear his armor. And the girl isn't a native so I think she can get away with her normal clothes. The people around here don't know how the drow dress their slaves." The demoness turned her senses outside for a moment to check on the others. "Do you know where these emissaries are?"

"I do make it a point to know what goes on in the streets. They will be passing the front of the alley in about five minutes." the halfling replied.

Kitana nodded and got up to leave.

"Do sent Artemis my greetings when you see him." Dwahvel called to her as she left. Kitana nodded again and stepped out into the alley.

She did not say a word to the others as she crouched down at its entry. The drow emissaries would have passed unnoticed to anyone else, she tackled both of them and threw them into the alley. Her dagger made short work of both of them. Kagome looked at her questioningly.

"I needed their invitations." the demoness explained simply. "Now we have a way in. Kimmuriel will go in as a drow emissary from the forest. You are going to pretend to be his slave. This way the two of you can slip into the party without question. I'll sneak in. Kimmuriel will trade you for Hitori, when the pasha takes you to his room you can kill him. Kimmuriel can get Hitori out at the same time and I will see to retrieving the others."

"What about guards?" Kagome asked. "You wont be able to get them out alone."

"No." Kitana agreed. "I wont. After you kill the pasha come down and help me."

"And what of me?" Kimmuriel asked.

"You will get Hitori out and bring him back to the inn and take care of him." The demoness' statement left no room for debate and he nodded.

"Good." said Kitana." Then let's go. House Da'Claria awaits."


	11. Chapter 10: A Killer Performance

A/N: I'm hoping to do this one in no more than 30 chapters like with Fate. I still have at most 19 chapters to work with so please be patient. I'm doing the best I can with recent events. I realize I've been going on about Hitori for the last few chapters and I'm going to get on with it.

Disclaimer: Please see previous chapters and add 'the pasha' (Pasha Da'Claria) to the list of my characters.

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Chapter Ten: A Killer Performance

Kimmuriel and Kagome approached the front gate cautiously. At first they didn't think that they would be admitted into the party. Once the drow showed the guards the invitations, however, they were let in without a problem. The guards readily bought that Kagome was Kimmuriel's slave and even asked if they could borrow her for a while. That guard received a glare that scared him silent. The drow made it clear that his 'slave' was not up for grabs.

Kimmuriel dragged the young woman to the ballroom. People in brightly colored clothing danced around the room, they were greeted by the pasha himself and Kimmuriel once again presented the invitations. "My people were pleased that you invited us." the drow said to him. He bowed deeply and the pasha returned the gesture.

The pasha then turned his attention to Kagome. "Who is this lovely young woman?" he asked the drow.

Kimmuriel offered a sly smile. "She is my slave." He casually brushed his hand across her face causing her to wince slightly. "She is very well trained."

The pasha threw the young woman a lusty look. "Indeed? I have a few well trained ones myself. I recently reacquired one I lost a few years back. He is very good. A half drow in fact."

The drow raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yes. Although he did take some more teaching." he replied still eyeing Kagome. "Would you like to see him? I hear the drow hate such mixed bloods, perhaps you could teach him a thing or two. Do you enjoy men as well?"

"Usually." Kimmuriel replied. "You wish for a trade? My slave for yours?"

The pasha's lusty grin grew. "If you would permit it. I daresay that I would like a much better behaved slave for a while. She is very well trained, Master-"

"Oblodra." the drow finished. "And I thank you. She took some work. After the party then?"

"Yes." the pasha agreed. "I will bring you to my Hitori after the party and there we can switch slaves for the night. Do enjoy the party." The pasha walked away from them and went to greet another guest.

Kagome scanned the room for any sign of Hitori but did not see him. The room however caught her attention. It was in the same style that Entreri had described in his vision. The only thing missing was the fountain. Was this the place he had seen? The crowd on the right side of the room parted enough to let her see that there was no fountain. Maybe there was one in a different room.

Kimmuriel noticed her looking around and pulled her a little closer. "What are you looking for?" he asked in her ear. A picture of her and Entreri's conversation earlier that day came into his mind, Entreri describing his vision of the room. Kimmuriel took the cue and opened a mind link with the girl. _'You think this is the place?'_

_'Another room. Not this one.'_ was her reply. Kagome allowed her senses to stretch about the house. She tried to find either Hitori or any of the others. _'Try to see where the others are.'_ She told the drow. Kimmuriel tried to look inside the pasha's mind, he got very little. For the moment he was thinking of the enjoyment he was going to have with the drow emissary's slave. Everything else was of little use, there was a vague thought of the guards in the lower room keeping his new prizes secure. He relayed all this to Kagome who took all the lustful thoughts stoically. The young woman in turn relayed the thought of the lower room to Kitana.

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Kitana received the girl's thought about twenty minutes into the mission. The lower room was worth a shot.

She pulled on a red dancing dress with black layers and trim ( A/N: Think Brooke Burke's pasa doble dress from Dancing With The Stars). This would be a very good disguise. The guards after all were allowed to enjoy the party as well, and what was a Memnon formal party without beautiful dancing girls?

The dress fit neatly over her black leather armor. No one would even be able to tell she was wearing it at all. Her four inch stiletto heeled boots finished off the look nicely. A dagger was hidden nicely in each.

She didn't bother doing her hair in a different style, it would be a waste of time.

Kitana strolled gracefully down a lower hallway to the guardroom. She carefully held her skirts off the ground as she stepped into the room and smiled alluringly at the guards. Twenty-three.

This would be a piece of cake.

She walked into the center of the room and took the starting position for one of Memnon's favorite dances, one leg bent up and placed onto a rise in the floor as she leaned back. One hand on her hip the other rose into the air.

The music began to play slowly and she moved easily with it. She brought her arm down to let her hand touch her forehead as she straightened herself into standing upright. She brought one leg up and brought herself into a graceful spin.

The music played faster and she began to toss her skirts about wildly all while keeping perfect balance. She leapt into the air and withdrew her daggers, they were part of the dance ironically enough. The guards had no idea what they were in for. She took the hands of one of them and wrapped herself in his arms and let him lean her back. She bent back almost to the floor then flexed her middle section, bringing herself snapping up. She turned again getting herself behind the guard and slipping her dagger into the back of his neck.

Five more turning steps brought down five more guards.

Another graceful kick brought down two.

She brought her skirts up to flare again and covertly released a stream of daggers. Six more guards down. And they still didn't know what was really going on.

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The four of them knew immediately knew that something was going on in the other room.

The guards in this one remained oblivious to that fact.

They remained silent through the whole ordeal. They had been hit hard by whatever had been in that mist. Artemis had yet to regain his strength. The other three were dazed but unharmed.

Drizzt strained to hear what was going on in the other room. He could faintly hear music but little else. They knew from the guards that there was a party going on upstairs. Maybe there was one down here as well. The ranger looked over to Nira who now had his head perked up. Did the demon know something that he did not? He threw the latter a questioning look, Nira just put a finger to his lips and warned him to stay quiet.

In the other room, Kitana finished off the last guard and waited.

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They had been at the party for almost an hour, things were starting to slow down. The pasha approached them again. "Are you ready to exchange slaves Master Oblodra?" he asked.

Kimmuriel nodded. "I will see yours first. I wish to see if the deal is equal before I give you my best slave."

"Of course, of course." The pasha replied. "Right this way." He led them into the main house and into his private quarters.

They climbed up three flights of stairs and into one of the smaller hallways of the house. It was designed to keep people from getting ahead of the pasha when he walked here, thought it did not save him from an attack from behind. They stopped at the last door in the hallway before it turned off to the side to the pasha's room. The pasha opened the door and let them inside.

Hitori was on the bed, he had been sleeping but was immediately awakened when the door had opened. The half drow looked horrible. His beautiful features were marred by many bruises and cuts, it was easy to tell that he had been putting up a fight. The little movements he made were awkward, from the way he looked at the pasha it became obvious to the other two that he had been raped. Repeatedly. For a moment his eyes widened at the sight of them the moment was lost when the pasha began to explain his job for the night. Please the drow, or be beaten. Hitori did not put up any kind of fight.

The pasha left the room with Kagome and Kimmuriel was alone in the room with the half drow. The drow locked the door and turned to face Hitori.

"What are you doing here?" the latter asked. Hitori didn't know what to think at the moment. Would Kimmuriel have his way with him or were he and Kagome there to get him out? And if Kimmuriel wasn't there to rescue him, what would happen to Kagome? He couldn't bear the thought of her going through what he had.

"We're here to rescue you." Kimmuriel said, honestly hoping that Hitori wouldn't ask him too many questions or about what had happened between them. He looked at Hitori and found that the half drow was staring at him. He wanted an explanation. "I'm sorry that I hit you." Kimmuriel blurted.

The half drow nodded, of course he understood. That understanding didn't lessen how much it had hurt, or how deeply. "You hurt me." Hitori said to him.

"I know." Kimmuriel replied softly. "And it's my fault you're here. If I had listened to you when you tried to explain you wouldn't have left." The psionicist had no idea what he was feeling. His lips trembled and he fought hard against threatening tears. He wanted Hitori to forgive him! He crawled onto the bed and placed himself in front of the half drow. He took Hitori's face into his hands. "I'm so sorry I hurt you..." he whispered.

Hitori returned the drow's gesture and pulled his face closer to his own. Their lips met in a soft kiss. "I forgive you." Hitori whispered back. He let his tongue brush against Kimmuriel's bottom lip and they pulled each other into a tighter embrace. When Hitori's hands started to wander Kimmuriel pulled away.

"Not here." The drow explained. "When we get out." He pulled Hitori to his feet as he opened one of his doors. "Do you have everything?" he asked.

"I didn't bring anything with me when I left." Hitori answered.

They left together through the door.

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The moment the door closed the pasha tried to be all over her. Kagome resisted him as soon as he started. She definitely did not want this filthy man on her.

He became slightly irritated when she denied him. "You don't wish to displease your master do you?" he growled threateningly.

Kagome smiled teasingly. This half demon, she knew what he was, had no idea what he was in for. "He's not my master." she stated coldly.

"Oh? Is that so?" The pasha stepped closer to her. "Well then, maybe you need one."

Hardly intimidated Kagome said nothing as he closed the distance between them. As he pulled her into a rough grasp, her dagger pierced him through his heart. "I don't have a master."

She let him drop to the floor and left him there. Kagome sensed that Kimmuriel and Hitori had gone. Now all she had to do was go help Kitana. The demoness was waiting for her in the lower room.


	12. Chapter 11: The Choice

A/N: Sorry about the wait, I haven't had much time lately. I know I keep saying that but it's true. Don't worry though, I have this whole week off from school. It just so happens that school vacations are my worst nightmare because of not having anything to do, therefore I shall attempt to focus on writing provided that people have enough sense to leave me alone. So as always, please enjoy.

Disclaimer: Drizzt and Co. belong to R.A.S. and Kagome belongs to Rumiko Takahashi, everyone else is most likely mine.

Warning: Sexy violence, blood drinking and slash (Male/Male lemon)

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Chapter Eleven: The Choice

Kitana was still waiting in the first room when Kagome entered. The young woman raised an eyebrow at the demoness wondering what in the Nine Hells she was doing in the dress. Kitana pointed to the dead guards in response, then she slipped out of the dress and made it vanish.

_'You ready to go in there?"_ The she asked in Kagome's mind.

_'They're in there?'_ Kagome asked in response. Kitana nodded and pointed to the door. The young woman silently stepped towards it and placed her hand on the frame, a minor spell revealed everything inside. The first thing she noticed was the fountain. Next, that there were only a few guards, only ten. _'What do you want to do?'_ she asked Kitana.

_'I'll go in and kill the guards. You work on getting the others out.' _came the reply.

Kagome didn't bother arguing. Things would go faster if she went with Kitana's plan. _'Do you have that wand of teleportation on you?'_ she asked. The demoness wordlessly handed it over. Kagome gently placed it in her belt and looked into the room again trying to find the others. No such luck.

Kitana noticed her distress and sent her another thought. _'Come in behind me and hide. You'll be able to find them that way. Wait until at least my second kill to get them out.'_

Kagome nodded again and removed her hand from the door. She ducked into the shadows as Kitana opened the door and strolled into the room.

Upon seeing Kitana the guards smiled. Their pasha was so generous! Such a lovely woman to have fun with! They took no notice of how armed she was, only that she wore a tight black leather outfit that had open laces in the front of her top that teasingly revealed only a hint of her torso. (A/N: Think of a leather corset, that's what I mean by open laced.) She approached the guards casually and threw them a teasing smile.

"A dominatrix?" The lead guard asked. She just nodded. "Perhaps you could entertain us with using our prisoners." he said trying to sound impressive.

Kitana raised an eyebrow. "Show me." she commanded. The guard brought her over to the cell on the left side of the room. The warding spells that covered it explained why Kagome had not been able to see it with her spell. Three out of the four looked fine. The other one, Artemis Entreri, did not. He was still weakly sprawled out on the floor. They must have been hit with demons bane. He was awake though, that was a good sign, but his breathing remained labored. He needed to be taken care of quickly. Why hadn't Nira given Artemis his blood?

She had to help him. She pointed to Entreri and said, "That one." Two guards lifted him up at her command, the leader remained at her side and she turned to him. "Kiss him." she commanded.

The guard painted a disgusted look on his face. "Another man?" he asked doubtfully. Kitana took the whip off her belt and cracked it once. The guard flinched but did not do what she said.

"Do as I say." she said calmly, too calmly. She tightened her grip on the whip's handle and glared threateningly.

This time the guard stepped forward, everyone tensed as he lifted Entreri's face to his. The guard kissed him quickly on the cheek then turned back to Kitana who now wore her death glare. "Not like that." She stated coldly. "On his lips like you mean it." The guard shuddered at her tone and turned back to Entreri who's eyes were now wide open and just as threatening as the dominatrix's. He still couldn't put up a fight though and that made the guard relax slightly as he forced a kiss on the assassin's lips.

Entreri tried to get away but failed, he fell heavily to the floor as the guards, all three, released him. '_What is wrong with me? Why can't I move...'_ He didn't have much time to think on that. As soon as the thought ended he heard the whip crack again. The guard that kissed him slumped to the floor along side him, his throat was slashed from the deadly weapon.

The guards backed off panicked from Kitana who simply turned to them and said. "He should have done it right the first time." One foolish guard tried to approach her but was warded off by another crack of her whip. The remaining guards looked at each other in dismay, What were they going to do? The dominatrix had killed one of their number. Surely the pasha would do something about this. Wouldn't he?

Another guard attempted to disarm her. He fell to the floor dead too.

"You can't do that!" One yelled. The others hastily agreed.

Kitana threw them another teasing smile. "Actually, I can."

The one who yelled charged at her, Kitana crouched down and withdrew a dagger from her boot and threw it at him. The other guards had no chance to help as they were caught in some kind of spell. Black tentacles leapt out of the floor to bind them.

"Thanks Girlie." Kitana said as Kagome came into view.

Kagome just nodded and pointed to the guards. "What do we do with them?"

"We have to take care of Entreri first. He got hit with a heavy dose of demon's bane."

Kagome's eyes widened in shock and she ran over to him. Kitana followed quickly behind.

Entreri looked up at Kitana still dazed, somehow he knew what she was just by looking. She gently leaned over him and touched his face hushing him. "Don't worry baby, I know exactly what you need." She motioned for Kagome to bring one of the guards over, the young woman did so silently. She didn't like what was going to happen, but the guard deserved it anyway.

Kitana roughly pulled the guard down to her side. He tried to get away but the demoness was too strong. "Here you go baby." she said to Entreri. The assassin didn't know what to do, he knew he needed something just not what that something was. He looked up at Kitana confusion clearly evident on his face. "Here baby, let me help you." she answered his gaze. Kitana bit down hard onto the guard's neck, her fangs easily pierced his skin. She gently placed Entreri's mouth on the wound.

A shock traveled through his body. Entreri didn't know what it was but he knew he liked it. He felt some of his strength returning and he grasped the guard tighter, lapping up the blood as though he was a starved man at a feast. He felt the blood flow weakening, something was wrong. But he didn't want to stop, he liked it too much. Someone tore the body away from him and he heard himself let out a small whine. Then everything returned to its previous have, though there wasn't as much as there was before. He knew he would live, but he still wanted the pain to go away.

"He needs more..." Entreri heard someone say.

"I know but there's only one thing left we can do. We can't keep feeding him humans..." came another voice.

"We could but it would take too long for him to heal.." said the first voice.

"I know." a short pause then. "Do you think he's ready?" the second voice asked. It sounded sad...

"You'll have to ask him. The demon's bane was strong, it had to be to effect him like this considering he's a hidden blood. If he doesn't want to now, we'll have to send him away to recover. If you give him your blood he'll need two days at most..." the first voice replied.

Entreri knew vaguely what they were talking about, he knew it was about him and it was important. That was about the extent of it. He heard someone move closer to him, it wasn't the demon woman. He opened his eyes and saw Nira above him. His face was full of uncertainty. Entreri wondered why.

Nira gently stroked his cheek. Entreri unconciously leaned into that cool hand, it felt so good against his feverish skin. "Artemis.." Nira called to him. The assassin opened his eyes and looked up at him. "Are you ready?"

"For what?", Entreri mouthed soundlessly.

"To make your choice." Nira answered. "Do you want to be a demon?"

A demon? Entreri asked himself. "Will it make it go away?" he asked unaware that he was speaking. Or that he sounded like a small child asking about nightmares.

"Yes." Nira said softly. "It'll all go away."

Entreri leaned more into Nira, snuggling like the said child into his father. "I want it." he whispered.

Nira bit down into his own forearm hard enough to make it bleed. Then he placed his arm on Artemis' mouth. Entreri wrapped his hands around it and began to suck hard, this blood was sweeter than the guard's. He could taste the power, the shock he felt was much stronger too. He felt something waking up inside him, like a roaring dragon waking to intruders in its lair. Entreri sat up and gripped Nira's arm tighter, his whole body was tingling now. The feeling from before only amplified a hundred times over.

The whole thing only lasted a few minutes, but it had felt like eternity. Entreri let go of Nira of his own accord. His father looked only slightly paled but not hurt in the least. _'Father? I just thought of him as my father..'_ Entreri said to himself. Somehow that did not bother him at all. Yes, Nira was his father he told himself. But he still didn't want to call him that.

And suddenly he felt tired. He needed to sleep. He noticed that Nira was still holding him. Entreri sensed that he wanted some kind of reassurance. Artemis allowed himself to smile up at Nira to show that he was alright. Then he fell asleep. He felt Nira lift him and he and the others all left the pasha's house.

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Kimmuriel and Hitori sat together in the drow's room still staring at each other.

They had only been back for a few minutes and already the awkward silence between them had returned.

Hitori quietly crawled over to Kimmuriel and put his arms around the drow. Kimmuriel in return allowed Hitori to sit on his lap. "Why didn't you just tell me?" he asked the half drow in a whisper.

Hitori put his hand on Kimmuriel's chest and made small circles there. "Would you have listened?" Kimmuriel tried to answer him a few times but found that he could not. He didn't know that answer himself. "It doesn't matter now." Hitori continued. "Now you know."

"And now I know..." Kimmuriel repeated. But what did that mean? He stared at the half drow who was comfortably wrapped in his arms. The psionicist found that he didn't care.

"Do you love me?" Hitori asked him in a whisper. He sat up slightly and their mouths were almost touching. His soft breaths played teasingly across Kimmuriel's lips.

"Yes." Kimmuriel whispered back. He let himself lean in to claim Hitori's mouth.

Again, the half drow's hands began to wander. This time Kimmuriel didn't make him back off. He pushed Hitori down to lay on the mattress and climbed on top of him. Their explorations became more passionate. Hitori began to grind his pelvis into Kimmuriel's leg. Enjoying the sensation the psionicist returned the gesture, adding his hand into the mix. His strong hand began to stroke his love's still clothed erection. Hitori writhed under him excitedly and pulled his shirt off.

Now that their chests were flesh to flesh they could take no more. "I want you now." Kimmuriel whispered huskily into Hitori's ear. Hitori tore his own pants off in response. Then his quick hands made short work of the drow's. Hitori eagerly took the hard cock into him mouth. Licking and lapping hungrily at his lover's essence. His hand worked in perfect time with his mouth.

Kimmuriel let out a loud groan in response. Enjoying the view of Hitori's body bent over before him, but needing more than just his mouth, Kimmuriel pulled Hitori off of his cock and kissed him roughly. "I want you now." he whispered again.

Hitori lay back and spread his legs wide, inviting the drow to come and play.

Kimmuriel took the invitation eagerly. Lining himself at the half drow's tight enterance and shoving himself inside him. Hitori moaned loudly as Kimmuriel began to thrust harder and harder into him. "Touch me!" he begged in a harsh whisper. Kimmuriel took the half drow's erection and began to stroke him in time with his thrusts. Hitori reached his hands up and gave the drow's nipple a hard pinch. When Kimmuriel began to pump harder Hitori's back arched eagerly at this turn of events, it was becoming too much. His hot seed spilled out of him and all over his lover's hand and his stomach. Kimmuriel reached his release soon after.

Kimmuriel fell atop Hitori still breathing hard. He meant to pull out but came again in the process. Hitori's inner walls were delightfully slick now. He couldn't help but feel satisfied with that. Hitori was his now. He looked up at his lover and found that he was doing the same. The half drow's eyes were shining with delight and affection. Kimmuriel brought his hand up to touch Hitori's face, he was rewarded with gentle kisses on his fingertips. A wistful smile played its way across his lover's lips. "That was amazing." Hitori whispered. His voice was harsher now from screaming. He let out a soft moan as Kimmuriel slid himself out of his body.

The psionicist lay down next to Hitori easily wrapping the half drow in his embrace. Hitori snuggled into him and fell asleep. Kimmuriel followed soon after. This time, he knew that Hitori would be there when he woke up.

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The others returned a few hours before sunrise. Navigating the streets without being seen had proved more difficult than they had expected. That and it turned out that Kitana's teleportation wand had run out of charges. So, they were left to walk.

Entreri was still asleep when they reached their room. Kagome had peeked in on Hitori and Kimmuriel and had found them sleeping in each others arms. She smiled to herself, at least someone was happy. Nira set Entreri down on the bed, trying to give his son as much comfort as he could. He still didn't know if there would be any pain involved with the change. He ran his hand through Artemis' hair and the latter smiled in his sleep at the touch. He whispered something that Nira couldn't quite make out. Nira figured that he was probably just dreaming.

Shiara and Vierna were also there still. They had been awake when the others arrived. At first Kagome had been surprised to see them, but then Shiara showed her the jewel. _'So it comes to this...'_ she thought. That's when she asked about Vierna.

Currently, the female drow was staring at Drizzt. The ranger was doing likewise.

"What are you doing here?" he sputtered out.

Vierna shook her head. She didn't fully know. Then she reached into her pocket and once again produced the rose blossom and showed it to her brother. Drizzt recognized it immediately.

Tears spilled out of the young drow's eyes, he stepped forward and pulled his sister into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry.." he cried. "I didn't want to do it..."

Vierna ran her hand over his hair. A small gesture from her time as his wean mother. Purely affectionate. "I understand." she said softly in his ear. "Go to sleep now." She held his hand in her own over the rose.

No one felt much like talking right now. It wad been a long night. They would take care of everything when they woke up.


	13. Chapter 12: Changes

A/N: Ok two in two days so far. I'm quite proud of myself for my last chapter. I'm hoping in can continue to do that good, at least by my self expectations. It must be all the green tea I've been drinking. O.o and chocolate. And no one bothering me imagine that! I noticed a few mistakes, please disregard them. I'll get around to fixing everything eventually.

Disclaimer: I don't own Drizzt and Co., they belong to R.A.S. Kagome belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. Anyone else is most likely mine.

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Chapter Twelve: Changes

Wakeness came only a few hours later. The noise in the streets echoed loudly into the room. Screams of joy and pain sounded through the air about one thing: House Da'Claria had been destroyed.

The scene outside revealed that the house had been completely demolished. The once regal mansion was now only a pile of smoldering rubble. A few vague comments were made about the similar destruction of another guild house in Memnon, but those were lost in the uproar about the former.

Kagome, Drizzt and Jarlaxle stood outside searching for some kind of clue in the wreckage. After all, _they_ had not destroyed the place, only the guards and the pasha. Kagome however, could see some things that her drow friends could not. The residual energy from a powerful demon spell pervaded the area. The demonic aura surrounding the place was a thick blood colored blanket.

"Do you think it was that demon?" Drizzt asked.

"I think so." Kagome turned to face him directly. "This is just like the other house. Only this time it was brought down completely."

"From what I understand, the pasha was working for some powerful person." said Jarlaxle. "Is that not what your friend said?"

Kagome shook her head. "No. She said that she had been hired to rob and kill a nobleman by a guild master who was working for a more powerful person. He wanted some kind of ring. Kitana ended up killing the guild master and that was the end of it."

"But could not that person have been the demon?" the mercenary pressed.

"It could have been." the young woman answered. "It seems likely to me, after this."

Jarlaxle raised an eyebrow. "You know something we do not?"

"I can see things you cannot." Kagome turned away from him for a moment to see if she could track the demonic aura. It was strange that Zakhra had left behind so many signs of his presence. Normally the demon lord was very meticulous about stealth. This time, it was obvious to those who know how to look that he had been there. Was he trying to throw them off or had he made a mistake? It seemed to Kagome that he had made several.

"And what would that be my dear?" Jarlaxle asked casually. The knowledge that she could see things he couldn't was slightly unnerving for him. He was used to knowing and seeing everything. Or maybe it was something about her specifically. And perhaps he could learn?

"There's a strong demonic aura all around here." Kagome explained. "I can see it, you could too if you concentrated a bit. It's easier just to feel it out."

"I feel it." Drizzt said. To the ranger it felt like an irritating itch. "Can we get out of here?"

The others nodded. There was nothing else to see. They pushed through the crowd back to the inn.

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Entreri still had not woken from the previous night. The whole night had taken a lot out of him.

The others remained curious as to what exactly had happened to him now that he had been infused with Nira's blood. Some of the differences were obvious: the budding fangs, slowly forming claws, he had gotten slightly leaner though not by much. his skin remained lightly grey in color. It seemed that not even the full demon's blood coursing through him could get rid of the shade. His ears had also developed a slight point. Not like that of an elf, closer to that of a halfling.

For the most part though, he looked pretty much the same. The others were glad for that.

Entreri himself was actually well aware of what was going on around him. His already sharp senses were now greatly amplified. He could hear everything going on in the inn. Right down to the heartbeats of those around him. At first the noise was painful, he wanted it to quiet down and to his amazement it did. His hearing went back to the way it was before only now slightly more sensitive. He imagined that this was the way elves heard. For a moment he felt sorry for Drizzt.

Another thing he noticed was that he had gained in his sense of smell. The person sitting next to him smelled decidedly good. He knew instinctively from the scent that it was a male. It wasn't Nira right now. He had learned that scent first. Which ever one of his companions it was he smelled kind of earthy, in a good way. The earthy scent was coupled with a slightly salty smell. He couldn't tell what that was. Sweat or sand perhaps. And leather.

He had no way to express this right now, nor would he likely, but he definitely felt attracted to this scent. He liked it a little more than he cared to admit. Maybe once he found out who it was it would go away....

And maybe his nose would stop twitching...

He took note that two scents left the room, that meant two people. One a female, who smelled kind of like the person sitting next to him. The other was a male, he could tell that it was a demon from the scent. Again the male wasn't Nira. The salty smell grew stronger on the person sitting next to him. Tears? Is that what that was? His ears picked up the sound of a soft sniffle. Yes, the person next to him was crying.

Not fully aware of what he was doing, Entreri reached his hand out to touch the person sitting next to him. The sensation of their warm body ran through him with a delightful chill. The soft crying was stopped with a sudden gasp. He was surprised at being touched. Unable to stop himself, Entreri let his hand slide down his companions thigh. It was meant to be an action of comfort. He gave the leg a light squeeze and let his hand drop.

The person next to him said something but he couldn't quite make it out. Nira's scent got closer to him and touched his face. This time Entreri opened his eyes.

The sights before him were even more amazing than everything else he had experienced. His vision was sharper now and not even the shadows in the corners could hide anything from his eyes. Everything looked brighter somehow, more intense but not threatening at all. He turned his head to face his companion. Drizzt was the one sitting next to him. The ranger had noticeable tear streaks on his face. Entreri reached his hand up and gently wiped them away. He didn't know why, but it felt like the right kind of thing to do. He couldn't help but notice how wonderfully smooth and soft the drow's skin was.

_'What am I thinking?'_ Entreri asked himself. Why was he suddenly so attracted to Drizzt? And the need to touch and be touched was burning through him. What was this?

Drizzt gently removed the assassin's hand from his face. His sensitive fingers sparked an entirely new feeling in Entreri. To him, the simple gesture was now entirely....erotic. Suddenly, Entreri _needed_ the ranger to touch him. He sat up facing Drizzt who wore a slightly confused expression. Entreri found himself a bit amused by this, he had never known he could make his former rival so nervous. He wondered what else he could to make him uneasy.

Entreri took Drizzt's hand and put it on his shoulder, willing the drow to touch him. Then he put his head down on the ranger's shoulder. Drizzt took in a sharp breath, Entreri took the moment to inhale his scent deeply; he smelled even better than before. But Drizzt still wasn't moving! "Rub my back." the assassin whispered. The drow complied, massaging him with small pressures up and down his back. Entreri let out a sound that was like a cross between a sigh and a purr, he took note that it made Drizzt shiver. The assassin gently began to return the gesture to Drizzt. "Sorry." Entreri told him softly. "I need to do this right now, I don't know why."

"It's alright." Drizzt whispered back. "I understand. Is this part of the change?"

"I think so." Entreri said as he fought the urge to lick the junction of the drow's neck. He rested his lips on it instead and tried to ignore the fact that he felt himself growing hard at the drow's touch. His hands wandered onto Drizzt's chest and began to massage his pectoral muscles and up onto his shoulders. For a moment he caught a whiff of a slightly musky smell. He didn't know what it was, but it was driving him crazy. Entreri started to kiss and lick Drizzt's neck all the way to the pointed tip of his ear.

At first, Drizzt didn't mind. He supposed that rubbing Entreri's back was the least he could do. But when the assassin started touching him that began to waver. He keenly noticed the man's arousal and when Entreri started kissing him it became too much. He pulled away and left with a mumbled, "Excuse me." Leaving an even more confused Entreri behind on the bed. Drizzt sat calmly on the roof of the inn trying to clear his head, this was all becoming way too strange. The sound of light footsteps caught his attention and he turned to face his visitor. Kagome sat down next to him, "Are you ok?" she asked.

Drizzt nodded and gave a little chuckle, "That was a little weird. No one's ever done that to me before." he confessed.

"Really?" Kagome asked gently. "No one's ever done that to me either except-" she stopped herself mid-sentence.

Drizzt raised an eyebrow and bade her to continue.

"Well umm....I have dreams about a guy and he does that sometimes." Kagome gave a little giggle. "The one last night was a bit more than usual."

Drizzt cocked his head to the side. That sounded familiar. But no it couldn't be, he thought. "What's his name?"

Kagome shifted a bit. "Well, uh..I don't really know." '_Yeah right....Maybe I should just tell him...'_she thought. "I don't know his real name because I've never met him in person."

"Oh.." the ranger said. "Did you give him a nickname?" This was becoming a little _too_ familiar.

"Yeah." She crawled over to him. "Shadow." Drizzt eyes went very wide. To Kagome it looked like they were about to fall out of his head. She gave him a little giggle, "Why do you know him?"

"Secret?" Drizzt whispered. Kagome burst out laughing. "How long have you known?" he demanded. She laughed harder.

"Since we woke up together." the girl replied. "I was hoping you'd figure it out by now. Now do you feel better?"

Drizzt gave her a teasing smile. "Not yet." He pulled her face to his and kissed her deeply like he had in his dreams.

When they parted for air Kagome grinned at him childishly. "How 'bout now?" she asked and they both fell back laughing.

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They re-entered the room about an hour later, after they had calmed down (and a furious make-out session). Entreri was still sitting on the bed and immediately noticed that both of them ad regained their previous happy glow. "So you finally figured it out." he stated grinning widely at Drizzt.

The ranger looked at him incredulously. "You knew?" he asked in disbelief. Had everyone known but him?

"I figured it out when you two both fell asleep and ended up waking up together." Entreri laughed. "It took you this long?"

Drizzt would have answered but Kagome had gone into another fit of giggling. "I'll just leave you two alone." she said.

"I'm sorry about earlier." Entreri said after she left. "I don't know what I was thinking."

Drizzt just shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I'm over it. That was a bit strange for you though." he joked goodheartedly. "I never thought _that_ could be the reason you followed me around for so long."

Entreri grinned at him. "Don't flatter yourself. Although I will admit that you are very good looking."

The shared laughter cleared all the previous tension between them. Things would probably be a little awkward from now on but they wouldn't let it break up their friendship. And they were indeed friends now.

"So you'll flirt with him, but you wont do it with me." Jarlaxle said as he came into the room. "I see how you are." he stated feigning disgust.

Entreri smiled evilly and pulled Drizzt onto the bed with him wrapping his arms around the drow from behind. "Oh but how can I not?" he asked the mercenary and kissed Drizzt's cheek. "He's so much more beautiful than you. And look at this magnificent hair."

The mercenary leader rolled his eyes at the pair. "We're going back to Japan." The two stopped fooling around and gave him their undivided attention. "Kagome thinks that is where the demon went. We're leaving in an hour." He left the room shaking his head. After all his hard work with Entreri, it turned out all he needed was a little bit of blood. How ironic...

"Guess we better get our stuff." Drizzt said.

"Guess so." Entreri replied.

The two shared another mischievous grin and set about their packing. Neither had believed before that something like this could happen.


	14. Chapter 13: Trouble In Tokyo

A/N: There! Now they know. I just had to get that out of the way. As for the thing with Entreri getting frisky on Drizzt, from everything I've found with anime and stuff like that all of a demon's senses are much more sensitive than human's. Seeing as Entreri is new to this he's going to sometimes get absorbed in it. Kind of like a new baby. And the 'slightly musky smell' on Drizzt, I think that should be fairly obvious.

Disclaimer: Drizzt and Co. belong to Mr. Salvatore. Kagome belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

Happy Reading!

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Chapter Thirteen: Trouble In Tokyo

They didn't bother with a ship this time. They found a wizard from one of the many guild houses in Memnon to teleport them. They were sent away quickly much to the wizard's relief. Two of the companions friends had been in to see him earlier to be teleported. After her and the half drow and the companions, the wizard felt lucky to be alive.

The six friends arrived in the city of Tokyo fifteen minutes later.

"Why didn't we just do that before?" Entreri asked exasperated. The others turned to Kagome agreeing with the question.

"We didn't know where exactly we were going. You wouldn't have wanted to be sent to the wrong place. And anyway, if we had gone straight to Memnon, we wouldn't have freed Nira." Kagome answered. Her friends did not press the matter, she had a point and she was right.

"Right so, where are we going now?" Entreri continued.

"Yuri has a base of opporations here in Tokyo. From there we can track any and all demon activity on the island." the young woman explained.

"We need to know about these things?" Jarlaxle asked.

"The demon activities are bound to be centered around where Zakhra is. I've noticed this before with other demon lords." Kagome explained.

"You're quite right little one." A voice called from behind them. "The new activity is centered around Tokyo itself. Many small villages have already been destroyed." Yuri continued as she came into their line of view. "They haven't attacked the city itself which leads me to believe that Zakhra is somewhere in the forests. I don't think he'll attack Tokyo yet, there's too much danger in such a move."

"What do you want us to do?" Kagome asked.

"I want _you_ to go patrol the area. Search every bit of the forests you can little one and slay demons as you come across them. See if you can find out where they're coming from." the elf explained.

"You want me to go out alone?" Kagome replied doubtfully.

"No. Sesshoumaru is around here somewhere. Go with him."

"And what about the others?"

"They will stay here at the temple. Entreri needs to get the hang of his new blood and beyond that it's not a good idea for our drow friends to be wandering around."

It made sense of course. Though they didn't like the idea, they went with it. Kagome would go patrol the area after their meal that night. The others would remain behind.

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_That afternoon..._

Drizzt and Kagome lay together on the drow's bed in the temple.

"It's not fair..."Kagome whispered. "We just got each other..."

"I know..."Drizzt whispered back as he nuzzled her neck. What was going to happen? Was he going to lose her too? Drizzt tightened his arms around Kagome, he didn't want to think about that. "I love you." he whispered.

"I love you too. I'll come back don't worry." Kagome gently ran her fingers through his hair and pulled him into another kiss.

His hand slid up her leg and she let out a little gasp. Kagome grabbed his hand and held it up off her. "Not yet." she told him. "I want to but not right now. Drizzt nodded and held her closer savoring every last moment he had with her before she left.

One of the temple workers knocked on the door to inform them that lunch was ready. Drizzt and Kagome walked down the hallway leisurely, trying to make as much time as possible. When they arrived five minutes later, the others didn't say anything as they sat down next to each other.

They all ate in silence. This would be hard for all of them. The four companions and Nira had become quite fond of the young woman, they didn't want things even more difficult than they already were.

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Kagome walked through the forest easily. She had been through here many times before. Sesshoumaru was definitely somewhere nearby, she could feel his familiar aura.

She didn't have much time to think on that as a small figure ran into her leg.

"Kagome!!" the little girl cried happily.

"Hello Rin." Kagome replied.

Rin began to jump up and down excitedly. "I missed you Kagome! Are you here to play with me?"

"I can play with you." Kagome answered. "But I need to find Sesshoumaru first."

"Ok! Come with me I know where Lord Sesshoumaru is!" Rin ran off in the direction she left the demon lord. Kagome followed her closely behind.

Sesshoumaru's white figure appeared a few minutes later. The toad was the first to speak.

"Rin! How dare you go running off again!" Jaken yelled. "I told you not to run off you silly girl!" Jaken was quickly silenced by his own staff hitting him on the head.

"Look who I found Lord Sesshoumaru!" Rin said to the demon lord.

Sesshoumaru regarded Kagome silently for a moment. "What do you want?" he asked after the inspection.

"I would ask your assistance. I'm hunting a demon." Kagome explained. "I have to go from village to village to get information on his whereabouts and take care of all the demon attacks."

"You have found another Naraku?" came the absent-minded reply.

Kagome shook her head. "No, not quite. If anything, this one is worse. Will you help me?"

"What would I get in return?" he asked almost lazily.

The young woman threw him a wide smile. "I can give you your arm back." she stated. Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow and she continued. It wouldn't be wise to play games with the demon lord although she doubted he would hurt her at all. Definitely not in front of Rin. "Right now if you want."

"You can give me back my arm?" he asked finally.

"If you'll allow me to get that close to you for a moment."

Sesshoumaru cocked his head to one side. "Alright, if you can do it I will assist you." He said this knowing full well that Kagome could revive his arm, but she didn't have to know that. If she didn't already.

Kagome approached him respectfully and readied her healing energy. "I'll need you to take off your armor and gi." she said before she healed him. Sesshoumaru silently complied. When he finished Kagome placed her white glowing hands on his shoulder. There was a bright flash that filled the clearing.

When it vanished, Kagome stood before Sesshoumaru with a satisfied look on her face. Sesshoumaru's arm was back and with its full former power.

"It would seem that you have gained my assistance." the demon lord stated.

"Kagome bowed deeply to him. "Thank you Sesshoumaru."

The latter turned to his servant and ward. "Jaken, Rin, we're leaving." The two hopped up at his command. Rin took hold of Ahuh's reins, the two headed dragon followed after her immediately. The five of them headed to the village most recently attacked by rogue demons.

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_That night in the temple..._

Drizzt lay awake in his bed for a long time. Thoughts of Kagome raced through his mind. Was she alright? Would she come back? Soon?

He had tried to sleep but failed miserably. What was there to do?

Someone opened his door and stepped in. He knew who it was before he opened his eyes. Entreri sat down at the edge of his bed, maintaining a respectful distance away from the drow. "You can't sleep either?" he asked Drizzt.

The ranger opened one eye then sat up. "For different reasons than you I'm sure."

"Not so different." Artemis replied. "I was worried about you. Don't ask me why, because I don't know. I just am."

"Do you want to sleep in here?" Drizzt asked. It was strange that Entreri would admit being worried about him. Before, he never would have done such a thing.

"Do you want me to?" the assassin returned. Drizzt nodded. "Next to you?" Another nod. "Are you sure?" This time Drizzt pulled Entreri down next to him. That was confirmation enough for Entreri.

It didn't take long for them to fall asleep together. They didn't worry about someone coming into the room and seeing them, they were together out of necesity.

When they woke in the morning, they didn't say anything to each other. Entreri had the urge to make Drizzt his. He settled on trying to kiss the drow. He neared the ranger's mouth, he didn't receive any rejection. When he deepened the kiss, Drizzt returned the gesture gratefully.

"After you have her...will you let me have you?" Entreri whispered.

"Yes." the drow whispered back.


	15. Chapter 14: In The Wake Of Destruction

A/N: Ok it has been an obscenely long time since I updated. That's a new record for me...I really have been trying. Please don't kill me, I'll give you snacks! Ok so maybe not snacks but I tried. Hopefully it wont take so long to update again. I went through and fixed all of my mistakes (hopefully) from my other chapters. I don't know what else to tell you. I have no idea when I'll update again. I really am trying...

Disclaimer: Drizzt and co. belong to Mr. Salvatore. Kagome and any other Iuyasha characters I throw in belong to Rumiko Takahashi.. I don't own them or Japan or the whole D&D world. My own characters have been differentiated and claimed. I make no profit except having something to do....Ok you get the point.

Thank you...I love you...Hey I got a coupon!! (Sorry, I've been on an Invader Zim binge)

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Chapter Fourteen: In The Wake Of Destruction

She danced wildly with her blades, the midday sun reflecting clearly the blood that stained them. Spinning around once more Radiant Death pierced through another demon's armored flesh and it fell writhing to the ground.

Kagome was saved from injury a moment later when Sesshoumaru's energy whip flashed through the air next to her and lopped off another demon's head before it could get to her. Kagome quickly nodded her thanks to the demon lord and raced back into the fray. The village might be destroyed, but its people still needed her help. The horde needed to be taken care of. Kagome sheathed her swords and withdrew her fans, this had to go fast. She flipped the fans open over her fingers and unleashed her dance of blades. The fire quickly devoured most of the demons. Sesshoumaru finished off the rest with an energy blast from Tokijin.

It was over. There was nothing left of the demon horde but a field of carcasses. The demon flesh disintegrated and blew away with the wind leaving only dust and bones.

Kagome surveyed the wasteland sadly. This was the third village she and Sesshoumaru had come across that had been completely obliterated. At least this one had survivors. The other two had not been so lucky. The young woman scanned the area with her senses to try to find where the demon horde had come from, but there was nothing. The only aura she could find was that of the skeletal remains of the demons she had just destroyed.

The village leader bowed before her and gave his unending thanks but she barely heard him. She noticed that Sesshoumaru was already walking off and she left the villagers without saying a word.

Kagome and Sesshoumaru said nothing until later that night after Rin had gone to bed.

"What is disturbing you?" the demon lord asked curious as to why he even cared. But if something was enough to unnerve Kagome then it would do him well to learn what he could.

Kagome shook her head in dismay. "Three villages so far, all destroyed but no trace of where the demons came from. We were lucky to get to that last one when we did. I circled all of the villages that have been attacked since Zakhra left Memnon but so far there's no pattern that I can see. This isn't making any sense!"

"You think he is like Naraku?" Sesshoumaru asked doubtfully.

"No." The young woman put her head in her hands. "But I do think he has some way to hide himself like Naraku did. That seems to be the most reasonable explanation, but if it's right then how is he hiding?"

"Perhaps you are thinking too much." Sesshoumaru said and Kagome looked up at him in disbelief. "Maybe you should take another look at that map."

Kagome did as she was told and took the map out of her pack. She spread it out before them and they both leaned in to look. Now she was beginning to see why Yuri had told her to work with Sesshoumaru in the first place. He was a demon lord after all, commanding battles and finding enemies had to be something he was god at otherwise he wouldn't be alive.

"Look here." he said after a moment of looking. He pointed to a group of villages that formed a triangle on the map. "They are centered around something. It is the same for most of the others as well. I am sure that he will strike at these incomplete triangles."

Kagome just stared at him. Why hadn't she thought about that? _'Because I got obsessed again...'_ Kagome once again shook her head in disbelief, this time at herself. She had let herself become obsessed with finding Zakhra again. A conversation between her and Drizzt came into her mind then, she had told him about when she was obsessed before. And that when you were obsessed you missed things. She had proved that again just now.

She took a deep breath to bring herself back on track. "Which one do you think he will attack next?" she asked the demon lord.

Sesshoumaru pointed to the village nearest the one the had just cleared, "That one. It is doubtful that he will go out of his way to the others. Notice that he is moving in a clockwise manner. Perhaps he is trying to find something around the circle's center."

Kagome thought a moment on what he said. It made sense and she had a feeling about what Zakhra was looking for. She drew a perfect circle connecting all of the villages that had been attacked and likely would be. The center was only ten miles away from Tokyo.

She knew exactly what he was looking for.

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"Now focus your energy into your hand. You wont always be able to rely on your claws so you will need an alternative." Kitana explained to Entreri.

Artemis just stared at his hand. "Is there a specific weapon I should be using?" he asked.

"There doesn't have to be." The demoness replied. "A whip would be the easiest in most cases. Other weapon shapes take more time to form if one is not trained. That is why young ones in training start out with it."

Entreri just nodded. He hated receiving orders, but there was no other way he would learn to use his new power unless he did what Kitana told him. He focused his energy into his hand as she had instructed and it began to glow a deep blue color.

"Good." Kitana said from his side. "Now make the gesture of cracking a whip. Aim for the stone block on the other side of the room."

Entreri circled his wrist back then flicked it forward. A flashing ribbon of energy leapt out at the stone block and sliced it in half. The whip vanished as soon as he unclenched his hand.

"Good." the demoness said again. "Most energy weapons are exceedingly simple. Some take more energy than others but that is why we train. Now that you know how to use the whip I think you should try sending energy bolts. It's the same concept as the whip only you do not have a 'handle'. Have your palm facing your intended target and send the energy into it."

The assassin mastered this one quickly as well. After only his second try he had been able to send a lightning-like streak of energy at another stone block destroying it completely. He had also learned minor things like using faerie fire and little orbs of energy for light and scouting.

Artemis lay down in his own room this evening. He wasn't ready to go to Drizzt yet, though he knew for sure that the ranger was up waiting for him. He was amazed how fast sleeping together had become their custom. Entreri stared up at the ceiling and wondered what would happen when Kagome came back, Drizzt would want to sleep with her. Where would that leave him?

He stopped that train of thought right there. He was starting to think like a lovesick fool, at least in his own opinion. Entreri sat up at the edge of his bed. He knew he didn't _ love_ Drizzt. He had gotten a bit attached to him, yes, but that wasn't love. But Entreri couldn't simply call it lust either. Entreri took a deep breath to calm his thoughts. "So what is it?" he asked himself.

He got up and left his room. Drizzt was missing him, he felt that clearly now. The ranger needed him and Entreri came to him without a second thought.. The drow's room was unlocked for him and the moment he passed though, Drizzt's face lit up brilliantly. The assassin smiled at him as he wrapped his arms around the drow. "Did you miss me?" Entreri asked Drizzt teasingly before he kissed his neck. Drizzt's only answer was to snuggle deeper into the assassin's arms and pull them both to the bed. The fell asleep shortly after.

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Kagome and Sesshoumaru ran to the next village as fast as they could. Luckily this one had not been attacked.

The pressure in the air was rising, something was going to happen here Kagome could feel it in her gut. Sesshoumaru was right about where the demons would strike next. This time they were ready.

They had the village completely evacuated in an hour, the villagers safely tucked away into a deep cave that Kagome had already put protective wards on.

The wind seemed to halt its gentle flow.

The animals stood rooted to the ground as though some larger thing held them still.

Not a sound made its way to their ears.

The sudden appearance of the presence of hundreds of demons traveled like a shock through their bodies. Both the girl and the demon lord spun around to face their foes. The sky darkened with the tainted souls of their enemies and lightning flashed in a futile effort to brighten it again.

Kagome and Sesshoumaru looked to each other and nodded.

Then they leapt into battle once more.

As soon as her feet left the ground Kagome loosed the blades in her fans. As soon as they were out, they slashed through a demon severing its head. A bright, bluish-white flash not too far away told her that Sesshoumaru was having better luck with energy attacks and she quickly changed her tactics. She levitated off the ground and crossed both fans in front of herself. Gathering her energy she waited for the right moment to let it go. It sparked around her in an almost electric surge, Sesshoumaru took the hint and backed off far away from her. Then just as another demon though it was about to make her its lunch her eyes flashed wide open and she sliced both fans through the air.

The proceeding firestorm greedily devoured all of the demon horde. The screams of their agony filled the air for several long seconds then abruptly stopped. The air was still again and Kagome let out the breath she had been holding. Time resumed its flow and the demons were all gone.

Kagome let herself drop to the ground. Sesshoumaru helped her to her feet and they went to retrieve the villagers.

When the villagers returned to their home they stared at it in wide-eyed shock. They had been expecting everything to have been destroyed, but not this.

Their fields were returned to their former healthy state and wild flowers were everywhere in full bloom.

Flowers in a field formerly covered in blood.


	16. Chapter 15: Making Holes

A/N: Ok the last one ended a little weird I know. It just seemed like the right thing to put. Anywho...I am happy to say that this is the second day this week I've written, it isn't as much as I wanted but it's more than I've had in a while. In the last chapter Kagome has a theory as to what Zakhra is looking for and how he's hiding, I'll get right on that (really because I write my notes before the chapter).

Disclaimer: Drizzt and Co. belong to R.. Kagome, Rin, Sesshoumaru, Ahun and Jaken belong to Rumiko Takahashi. So does Naraku but I'm only making referrances to him and not using him as an active character. Everyone else is mine unless you recognize them as someone I forgot.

Beware the insanity.....

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Chapter Fifteen: Making Holes

Kagome rose to her feet a bit awkwardly. She hadn't used her power like that in a while; she hadn't needed to. As she stood up straight she looked around, she sensed a strange energy not too far off. Kagome closed her eyes to better locate it and felt a tug in her mind pulling her to the forest.

She followed it cautiously but was not too worried about what would be there. It didn't feel threatening. It felt like whatever it was, it was sleeping in a way, but it wanted to wake up.

The tug became a little more insistent as she neared what she was looking for. Her target was most likely magical in nature. Vaguely, she sensed that Sesshoumaru was behind her but Kagome was so absorbed in the feeling that he seemed very far away.

A sudden jolt to her mind brought Kagome back to the present. Before her was a large portal stone. It was dormant as she had suspected but it was trying to activate itself. Some of its sister stones had already been awakened and it wanted to join them.

The presence of the old stone confirmed her theory about what Zakhra was looking for. The villages that he had already destroyed had surrounded the stones and had been protecting them in a way. The stone was a part of a larger ring that protected a long dead wizard's tower. All the stones had to be awakened one at a time in a specific order before the entrance to the tower was open. That was why he was moving in a clockwise manner around the island. Destroying the villages only made his access to the stones easier. Once the demon was in the tower it would vanish and he would be harder to find and attack. The stones would have to be reactivated before anyone who wanted to find him could get to him and by that point he could change location.

Sesshoumaru's voice interrupted Kagome's contemplations. "What did you find?" the demon lord asked.

"Portal stones to the wizard Nokira's tower." Kagome replied. "Nokira herself is long dead, but the tower is still standing and its defenses are all in place. I think Zakhra wants the tower for himself that's why he's attacking the villages. It gives him better access to the stones so he can activate them. We stopped the attack on the last village so the protection against him remains. This stone wants to join the others but it can't unless we activate it and if we leave the area he'll just send more demons to the village and destroy it."

"Will destroying the stone prevent him from gaining access to the tower?" Sesshoumaru asked.

The young woman shook her head. "I don't think so. It'll probably have the same effect as activating it but not as strong."

"But if we destroy the stone, Zakhra wont be able to attack the village and it will create a weakness in his defenses."

Kagome thought a moment on the demon lords last statement. He had a good point. The energy from the stone would linger around the village and it would remain protected. And in destroying the stone, the tower would not be able to completely hide itself even though it would react as if it had been activated. If they destroyed enough stones, she surmised, Zakhra would be at a disadvantage. He would think that his demons had activated the stones like they were supposed to and go about his business.

"Together?' she asked Sesshoumaru.

The demon lord nodded. "I think that would be wise."

They released powerful bolts of energy at the same time. The old stone was completely obliterated in their wake. Its energy was released in a giant silver ring and connected with that of the other stones. Though not as strongly as it normally would both the demon and the girl sensed.

Satisfied with their work they went off to find and destroy the next stone.

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"Excellent." Zakhra purred. Everything was moving along nicely. Already six of the twelve stones had been activated and now the seventh had been awakened.

He knew that the girl and the demon lord had destroyed another part of his legion, but he had more demons he could use. Kagome's attack had destroyed the whole horde he had sent to the village but it looked like one had escaped long enough to activate the stone.

Zakhra let out a dark chuckle. His followers were stupid, yes, but very loyal. That one must have been a little smarter than the rest. And now he was dead. But that was of no consequence, the stone was activated.

Only five more until the tower of Nokira was his. How ironic...

What would the great wizardess say if she knew that he was about to destroy the very city that she had protected for centuries using her tower? He had fought her once, Zakhra recalled. She had been very powerful then. That was how he found out about her tower in the first place. Too bad he had not been able to kill her then, he would have been able to obtain the place sooner.

"Send out more demons to the next location." He commanded his lieutenant.

"Yes Master." The lieutenant replied as he bowed low. "Right away."

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They arrived at the next village before it was attacked. Again Kagome made short work of the demon horde. Now that they knew Zakhra's pattern they were able to perfectly predict when and where he would send his demons.

They destroyed this stone just like the last. The spell holding the tower was getting weaker, it would become visible soon.

Kagome could only hope that they could destroy the stones before Zakhra activated them. They needed to weaken him as much as possible. Fighting his demon hordes was only half the battle. Any and every hole they could put in his defenses would be crucial. She was confident that he had no idea that the stones had been destroyed.

That night Kagome felt better than she had in a few weeks. She chose to sleep tonight and let Sesshoumaru keep watch.

By the time she fell into her Dreamscape Drizzt was already there waiting. It was easily noticeable that he had been worried about her. His face revealed everything.

"Where have you been?" he asked as he drew her into a tight embrace.

"I haven't slept in a few days that's all." She would have said more but the drow was now covering her face in light kisses. She figured that her reasons wouldn't matter, they were together. "I have information for Yuri." she said after a few moments of silence.

Drizzt turned his head to regard her and she continued. "Tell her that Zakhra is after the wizard Nokira's tower. He's attacking the villages surrounding the portal stones. Sesshoumaru and I have destroyed two already and we're moving on to the next one. We're hoping to put holes in his barrier."

"I'll tell her." Drizzt replied.

They stared at each other for a moment. Kagome could see that there was something bothering Drizzt. What ever it was it was causing him to not quite be able to look her in the eye. Was he feeling guilty about something?

"What's wrong?" she asked him.

He looked up at her. Yes, he was feeling very guilty at the moment. His lip trembled as he tried to think of the right thing to say. How could he tell her? Drizzt swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "I'm sleeping with Artemis." he said quietly and he bit his lip.

Kagome blinked once and burst out laughing. "Is that all?" she asked. Then seeing that Drizzt was in shock of her reaction she kept going. "Did you think I'd get mad?" The ranger nodded. "Well I'm not." she stated firmly. "It's perfectly fine with me if you sleep with someone else, so don't feel guilty." Kagome could still see that there was something bothering him. "What else is wrong?"

Drizzt started to bite his lip again. "I...I-" He cut himself off and shook his head.

"You like him, don't you?" Kagome asked. She wasn't surprised really. After what had happened between him and Artemis in Memnon they were bound to get attached to each other sometime. "Do you?" she repeated.

Drizzt tried to answer her again but failed to find the right words. Her knowing expression only made him more confused and he ended up just nodding his answer. When he looked up at her again he saw no anger, she smiled softly at him. He honestly had no idea how she could not be angry with him. He flinched a little as her hand rose, but instead of the slap he was expecting she merely stroked his cheek. Drizzt let himself be pulled back into her embrace. "I still love you." he whispered.

Kagome chuckled a little. "Is that why this is bothering you so much?" she asked, she received another nod. "It doesn't bother me. I still love you too. And if you want him you should have him."

"But what about you?" Drizzt asked, his bottom lip was starting to tremble but he held in his tears.

She smiled at him lovingly. "I'll still be here. I'll just have to share is all."

Drizzt looked at her awestruck. "You wouldn't mind that?"

"Nope."

He pulled away and just stared at her. She was truly an amazing woman. He doubted that many others would be so understanding. Drizzt pulled her to himself and kissed her passionately. "Thank you." he whispered when they broke for air. He held her face close to his and then brought his lips down to kiss her neck. "I love you so much.." Kagome ran her fingers through his hair in response.

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That morning in the temple Drizzt woke as what had become usual in Artemis' arms. He reached his hand out and tenderly stroked the assassin's face. Artemis woke immediately at his touch.

"Good morning." Drizzt whispered and Artemis smiled.

"You look like you're feeling better." Artemis said to him. He propped himself up on his elbow and waited for the ranger's reply. Drizzt just smiled back at him and then pulled him into a deep kiss. Surprised but delighted, Artemis returned the gesture. "You are feeling better." he remarked. "Something happen?"

"I talked to Kagome last night." the ranger said.

"Oh?" Artemis raised an eyebrow slightly. Seeing that Drizzt obviously had more to say he continued. "And?"

"I told her about us." the ranger replied.

"What did she say?" Artemis asked as he leaned closer to the drow.

Drizzt brushed his lips against the assassin's. "She said that she doesn't mind and that if I want you then I should have you."

Now _that_ was surprising. Artemis sat up fully to regard the drow. "Are you serious?"

"That's what I said." Drizzt laughed. "Yes, I'm serious.

"Wow." Artemis said as he lay back. "So what do you want to do?"

The drow thought a moment. "Hmm...I want to go back to bed for a bit. And then I have to tell Yuri something."

"Why don't you tell Kimmuriel and he can tell her?" Entreri asked slyly. "Then we can stay in bed longer."

"I can live with that." Drizzt replied.


	17. Chapter 16:Gaining The Advantage

A/N: I'm planning on moving a bit faster now. I want this done and over with so I can move on to other things. Hopefully I wont need a third part because I want this done in no more than thirty chapters as I have mentioned before. I did have this half way written but someone closed out of it before I saved it, so this is my rewritten version of this chapter. I'm working mostly from memory for about the first half after that it's not.

Disclaimer: Drizzt and Co. belong to Mr. Salvatore. Kagome and everyone else from Inuyasha belong to Rumiko Takahashi. Everyone else is or should be mine unless you recognize them from somewhere else. My OCs have been claimed in other chapters.

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Chapter Sixteen: Gaining The Advantage

Kimmuriel sat up grudgingly in the bed he shared with Hitori. He had just received a message from Drizzt to relay to the elfmaid Yuri. The psionicist looked over at his still sleeping love and sighed. Why couldn't _Drizzt_ have told her himself? Kimmuriel gently ran his hand across Hitori's face. The half drow didn't wake. Kimmuriel then got up to go find the elfmaid. Not bothering to get a shirt he walked out of the room.

That was one thing he had learned quickly about the place. He wasn't expected to be fully dressed all the time as long as he wasn't walking around naked. The hallway was warm anyway. It was late spring on the island, summer would be coming soon. A slight breeze ruffled through his hair as he found the door he was looking for.

The elfmaid was in the temple's study pouring over a pile of documents. Kimmuriel figured they had to do with her mercenary business. In his brief tenure as leader of Bregan D'aerthe he had had many of the same kind. Technically he still did as Jarlaxle hadn't formally resumed his post as leader. Personally, the psionicist couldn't wait for that day. He hated having to go back and forth from the surface to Menzobarranzan all the time. And now that he had Hitori, he really didn't want to go back to his homeland. 'How strange..' he thought. He was brought back to what he was supposed to be doing when he noticed that Yuri had finally looked up at him.

"I have a message from Kagome for you." Kimmuriel said.

"From Kagome?" she sounded surprised to the drow and. It was unlike Kagome to send messages through other people. That meant she had to be really busy. "Let's hear it then."

She listened intently as Kimmuriel told her everything that Drizzt had relayed to him.

She approved of the young woman's plan to destroy the remaining portal stones. They would need every possible advantage if they were going to fight and win against Zakhra. If he possessed Nokira's tower then he would be made all the more formidable. As long as the demon gained no knowledge that the stones were actually being destroyed they would be fine. Once enough stones were destroyed the tower wouldn't be able to use its primary defense. It would not be able to conceal itself from outside eyes.

Though she knew that Zakhra getting hold of the tower was a bad thing for their side she could not but feel hopeful about what Kagome and Sesshoumaru were doing. From what she knew about the tower presented another problem. Its internal defenses were far more dangerous than the ones outside. However, she was still confident that they were nothing Kagome couldn't handle. She was aware as well that Zakhra had coveted the place. He had battled Nokira herself about a century ago and had lost mainly due to the tower. Now that the wizardess was gone it seemed that the place was free for the taking. All the more reason to remain cautious. She was brought out of her contemplations when she felt Kimmuriel staring at her. He was waiting for an answer. Or even an order it seemed.

"I will talk to Kagome." She said to him. "You need not worry about this any further. You can go back to whatever you were doing before." Apparently satisfied with her answer Kimmuriel left the room.

As soon as he returned to his own he found Hitori sitting up in their bed rubbing the tiredness from his eyes. "Where did you go?" Hitori asked sleepily.

Kimmuriel silently climbed onto the bed. "I had to tell Yuri something." he explained. "Let's go back to bed." Fully agreeing with the idea Hitori snuggled himself into the drow and fell back to sleep. Kimmuriel joined him soon after.

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They had found their third stone and destroyed it. Unfortunately they had not been in time to save all of the village. They had gotten there shortly after the demon horde had attacked. Both Kagome and Sesshoumaru noticed that this one was a lot smaller than the previous ones. That meant either Zakhra was running out of followers or he was reserving his legions for a larger battle.

They wasted no time moving to the next village. Though it was three days away they needed to maintain a rapid pace if they wanted to get there before the next attack. Luck was with them this time and they arrived fully a day sooner than expected. That left them with plenty of time to prepare the village.

The horde came again as expected, another one that was noticeably smaller. It was quickly incinerated by Kagome's fire and the portal stone was broken by the same flames. Only one more left now.

They were making good progress and thankfully Zakhra still had no idea of what was really going on. Kagome chose to look on the bright side of things though, once they destroyed this stone she would be able to see Drizzt again. Yuri had told her that this morning. She was to lead the four companions and Nira into the wizards tower once the last stone was destroyed. No one had any doubts that he would be in the tower.

That sleep found her this night was definitely a blessing, that Drizzt was in her Dreamscape waiting made it even better. He comforted her and was overjoyed at the chance to see her again. It was hard to believe that they had been apart for two weeks. But so much had been done!

Kagome reminded herself not to get too excited the next morning. The next village was five days away.

On a whim she pulled the jewel out of her pocket. It glimmered innocently in her palm. Kagome still had no idea what she was supposed to do with it. And why did everything have to come down to the jewel lately? The sound of rustling bushes caught her attention and she looked up. It was only Sesshoumaru. 'Who would have thought I'd end up working with him?' she mused and she let out a little giggle. She would much rather travel with him than Inuyasha, and Sesshoumaru was supposed to be the bad guy! But Kagome knew better, if the demon lord was really evil he wouldn't have left Rin and the others safely in the last village.

She watched as the demon lord in question looked at her with a raised eyebrow. She let out another giggle and said that it was nothing, just a personal joke. He shrugged his response and turned his attention back to the sky. He said that they should get going if they wanted to keep up.

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His heart pounded in his chest as strong slender hands caressed his bare skin. Hot lips found their way to his neck and he heard himself begging for more his voice barely above a whisper. The hands answered his cries and began to gently stroke his hard length still trapped within his pants.

His lover's ebony skin and violet eyes danced across his mind.

Then he woke up.

Artemis sat up breathing hard and covered in sweat. Now _that_ had been one hell of a dream. He turned his attention to the still sleeping drow ranger that had filled it. 'Why do I want him so much!' he thought to himself. Drizzt turned over in his sleep revealing the perfectly toned torso he had been dreaming about. Why did the drow always have to sleep topless? But Entreri knew that the ranger was not teasing him on purpose.

It was his own fault. Why did he even want the drow in the first place? Why was Drizzt so intoxicating?

Was it because the ranger was now willing to be his lover? If that was the case then why hadn't he just taken the drow when he admitted it?

Entreri slapped himself mentally. There was no point in thinking about this. Whatever it was...

Drizzt murmured something in his sleep and smiled. Entreri let himself lay back down, they would need all the rest they could get. From what Yuri had said they were in for a battle in the nest few days, once Kagome had destroyed the last portal stone or something like that. He hadn't really been paying attention. Now why was that...He couldn't really remember.

The ranger let out a sound akin to a moan that sent a delightful tingle through his body. He felt himself getting hard again. 'No!' he barated himself as he noticed he had begun to reach for Drizzt. Artemis pulled away taken aback by his own thoughts. Why couldn't he just have the drow? Drizzt wanted him. The latter then chose that moment to roll over again with his arm stretching out to touch him.

Unfortunately the ranger's hand had landed on a very..._excited_...spot. Artemis fought hard to hold in a low moan but failed entirely. Drizzt's hand gave a small twitch and moved down slightly. Then apparently becoming aware that his hand was somewhere where it probably shouldn't be, the drow woke up. The first thing he saw when his eyes fully focused was Artemis biting his lip forcing himself to hold in another moan.

Drizzt knew that he should probably remove his hand but decided otherwise. After all, he had no idea he could put his former rival in such a state. And he still had to get back at Entreri for the first time they touched like this. Artemis watched in shock as the drow's hand began to stroke his hard length tentatively and gave it a little squeeze. The assassin instinctively curled into that touch. He fell back to the bed sweating again and breathing hard. At first he wanted to tell Drizzt to stop but that plan was immediately abandoned when the ranger decided to open up his pants and let his throbbing erection free.

"You little bastard..." Artemis growled but any attempt to sound threatening was pitiful. Drizzt only smiled deviously and began to lick the head of his cock, slowly at first and then much more eagerly. Enjoying the reactions he was getting from the assassin he then took the entire length into his mouth and began to suck it hard. Drizzt heard himself let out a series of delighted grunts and groans as his tongue brushed over the slit of Artemis' weeping sex, his fluids were much sweeter than he expected. Wanting more he focused solely on the head; swirling his tongue on the tip and hungrily lapping up the essence.

Artemis writhed under him passionately crying out the drow's name. His legs spread with his pleasure and he tugged impatiently at his long white hair. He could feel his orgasm coming, he was on the edge. And if Drizzt didn't give it to him quickly he was going to explode. Unable to wait for it much longer he began to thrust his cock into the drow's mouth. Drizzt met the challenge just as eagerly as he had done everything else and opened his throat to allow Artemis to go deeper. Artemis let out a loud groan and his hands tightened their grip on Drizzt's shoulders as he came. Drizzt greedily lapped up every bit of the hot fluids until they stopped.

Entreri fell back to the bed in a daze staring at Drizzt in wonder. Had the drow known all along? Drizzt agilely crawled on top of him. "You still think I'm a bastard?" he purred seductively.

Artemis chuckled softly. "Yes you are." With no more words to be said he pulled Drizzt down to lay atop him and when the drow tried to protest he was silenced by a fierce kiss.

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Zakhra laughed wildly in his glee. The last stone would soon be activated!

Soon the tower of Nokira would be his.

The irony! To think that he would possess the same tower that had prevented him from destroying the wizard over a century ago. And he was going to use it to destroy the city she had protected with it first!

Zakhra calmed himself after several moments. His legion was wearing slightly thin. He wouldn't need a large group pf demons for the last stone. Only about fifty or so would be enough. He knew that Kagome would be there to destroy them. Why waste them so soon? Yes they were just fodder but they were useful as a distraction. He had to wait at least another day before the magic of the stones would allow him to activate the last one. Determined as he was to own the tower he knew that activating the stones too soon would only be a bad thing. The demon contented himself with thoughts of gaining glory and enslaving all that he saw as beneath him. He would kill off all the humans first, starting with that meddlesome girl.

How long had she been chasing him? It must be going on four years now even though she had hated him for far longer. He could still recall their first battle, the one where she had managed to scar his face. She had been about thirteen then. He would have killed her if her father's swords hadn't released their protective magic. Even without the power of the swords she had been formidable. He had been very surprised to find such power in a mere child.

Perhaps it had to do with the fact that she had a twin. Though her brother was not as powerful as she was. It also could have been the result of their parents, they had been the finest warriors in Japan, skilled evenly with blades and magic. Demons bred for powerful young all the time, perhaps it was a similar thing.

A pity still that he had yet to kill the twins...

But no matter, he would have what he wanted soon enough. And they would be the first to die. And then Nira and his son just for the hell of it.

A scar on his left forearm burned malevolently causing him to grimace in pain. He assumed that the thought of Shanali's son had caused it. He angrily removed his armor to better see the offending wound. The last strike from the Charon's Claw still effected him. Even now it tried to devour his flesh. Once he possessed the sword it would vanish. Or so he hoped.

He focused more of his energy on the wound forcing the pain away and slowing the flesh eating process once again. There were more important matters to attend right now. He would send his legion to activate the stone tomorrow afternoon.


	18. Chapter 17: Last StoneBattle at Tower

A/N: Ok see! I'm keeping my promise! A new chapter it is! Now please don't kill me, I swear that I did not do anything to warrant such an action. Want a cookie? Ok so I don't have a cookie to give but the point is that you shouldn't kill me because then this would never get done. Anyway, enough fake pleading, it's time for the story to go on and all that stuff. In the last chapter we left Kagome and Sesshoumaru on their way to the last portal stone of the wizardess Nokira's tower. Will they get there in time? Will they make it to the tower? Do they have any chance of victory? If you even bother to read these things, the only way to find out is to stay tuned...

Ok I know that was lame, but I felt like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Drizzt and Co. they belong to R.A.S. Kagome and Sesshoumaru belong to Rumiko Takahashi as do Rin, Jaken and Ahun and the rest. Everyone else is most likely mine.

And so we return to our hero's....

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Chapter Seventeen: The Last Stone and the Battle at Nokira's Tower

A star streaked across the brilliant sky and vanished from her view. Kagome let out a soft sigh as she watched its plight wishing that she could disappear just the same. Oddly enough, at that moment she felt completely at peace. She didn't understand why but maybe it had to do with the fact that they were so close to finding Zakhra. Kagome couldn't help but wonder if this would finally be the end. Would this be the final battle with the demon lord?

Inside she screamed that it would. That her heart would not rest until he was destroyed. It didn't matter who did it though she could not deny the satisfaction she would feel if she were the one to do it.

Her other half doubted that she would ever be able to kill him. She had spent her whole life training in the art of fighting. Maybe not speciffically against him but that didn't lessen anything. And had she not been hunting him intently for the last four years? How come he was not destroyed by now?

'No.' She told herself., she had to remain calm. There was no way she would be able to survive if she did not keep herself together. Kagome stood abruptly nearly startling Sesshoumaru. She offered only a quick apology as she walked off into the woods around them. She followed the sound of rushing water as she moved forward, from the sound of it there had to be a waterfall ahead. 'I wonder if it's warm enough to take a bath...' A bath would be nice.

Little orbs of light were starting to appear around her when she dipped herself into the water. Kagome tensed as they got closer to her. Looking around she sensed that they were not threatening in nature but she still didn't completely trust them. A single orb approached her directly, cautiously she reached her hand out to touch it. As her fingertips made contact the orb's form trembled and a small energy shock passed through her. Kagome understood what it was trying to say immediately. The orb dove under the water and she went down with it. She knew enough to keep her hand on it otherwise something bad could happen.

The orb led her into a small underwater cave, it didn't look like it went on for too long and Kagome figured that it ended in some kind of cavern. The orb let out a small pulse, confirming her thoughts. It pulsed again this time telling her that they were close. Sure enough she noticed that the water was becoming more shallow and she could see light though to the surface. Kagome gave a strong kick with her legs and surfaced taking a deep breath as she climbed the stone steps out of the pool.

The chamber was natural for the most part though the steps were definitely not. Instantly Kagome noticed a strange light-emitting pedestal in the center of the room. The next pulse the orb gave was stronger than the last, it had wanted her to see the pedestal. It tugged on her energy, bidding her to move closer. She gave a little shiver as she finally realized how chilly the chamber was, it didn't help that she was not wearing any clothes. She shook it off and went to investigate.

The pedestal itself was not glowing; it held yet another orb that was. It was twice the size of the rest and held a considerable amount of more power. It emitted a soft buzzing noise as she came to stand directly in front of it. Kagome cocked her head to the side curiously. Apparently understanding this it began to speak.

_"You seek entry to the tower."_ It stated in a watery voice in her head. She thought the word 'yes' knowing it would hear. _"You are known to us Kagome Higurashi. You seek the demon that seeks our Lady's tower. You have destroyed most of the stones, why is this?"_

_"To fool the demon into believing he is still safe. By this I gain an advantage to rid the world of him."_ Kagome answered.

_"You wish his demise? You seek revenge young one?"_

_"I cannot deny that I would see his end. Yet I do this not only for myself, but for all the others that he has harmed."_

The orb gave a small shimmer as though in contemplation. _"You are very brave Kagome Higurashi. But have you the courage and power to defeat us?"_ The orb flared and grew to five times its size. _"Bring forth your weapons young one!"_ The orb flared again and sent a strong bolt of energy at her. Kagome's legs went numb and began to tremble. The orb again commanded her to fight, she gained enough concentration to call to her swords. Radiant Death immediately appeared in her right hand and Kaga-to in her left. The swords instantly reacted to the foreign energy surrounding her and brought forth their flames. A laugh sounded in her mind, the orb knew of her swords or so it said. She slashed at it once and the flames went out. The orb laughed again and it attacked her with another barrage of energy. The energy was starting to disable her own power, she needed a plan. She was disarmed of Kaga-to a moment later when an energy bolt hit her left hand. The next one sent her into the wall.

Kagome was beginning to struggle. She felt completely powerless for some reason, it was as though she had fallen through the well again and was stripped of her abilities. She managed to dodge another hit but was foiled with the next. She lay on the floor completely immobile. The orb held her but did not launch another physical attack, instead it chose to assault her mind. It brought up memories of her time with Inuyasha in the Feudal Era. Every harsh word, every injury, every emotion she had felt because of him. His betrayal flashed and replayed through her mind several times. The scar on her side began to bleed again, the wound had once again became fresh. Unable to surppress a scream her body was forced into a sitting position. Kagome growled fiercely and forced herself to focus, she was over Inuyasha's betrayal. She wasn't Kikyo! She had brought Kikyo back to true life with a mere wave of her hand without even realizing it. The orb retaliated with deeper, more painful memories. She saw her father lying on their living room floor in a pool of blood. She heard the laugh of the one who had slain him. She screamed louder commanding the memories to be silenced, she had to stop that laugh.

Before she knew it Radiant Death began to flare with a different light. The pure energy of her body was being drawn out and into the sword. It glowed white with her power and began to absorb that of the orb. Through the connection she commanded the orb to stop its assault, that this was senseless and she only wanted to destroy Zakhra to protect all of the innocent people he was planning to kill. Even the demons that he used as fodder deserved to be saved from such a fate. She held the sword straight in front of herself and it flared again. This time it released the energy it had absorbed and had thrown it back into the orb. Kagome heard the orb's screams in her mind, its light dimmed and it shrank back into its original form.

_"You have defeated us..."_ It whispered into her mind. _"We congratulate you on your victory. You are very brave Kagome Higurashi and very strong. There is an easier way than destroying the last stone to enter the tower. You need not destroy the stone for the stone of power lies in the next chamber. Destroy the stone of power and all of the stones will be deactivated. You will not lose your advantage, the stones will retain their auras. You have proven yourself worthy of this gift. Our Lady would have done the same for you."_

Kagome nodded and proceeded to the next chamber that had just opened. The stone of power sat silently before her. It was not as dormant as it looked and attempted to fight her as she commanded it to break. It gave in only a few seconds later when it realized that she had earned this rightfully and the stone conceded. A large crack appeared through the stone and it was dead.

The orb approached her again as she came back into the first room. _"The way to the tower will be clear for you and any beside you. None of us will move against you for we too wish for the demon's demise. He covets us and would have killed our Lady to make us his own. We do not wish to serve him. Call on us when you need us and we will come to your command, you are now our new Lady. We will serve you for as long as you desire. Go now Lady Kagome, return to your companions. We will await you at the tower after the demon has entered. We will hold him there until you arrive."_

Kagome nodded again and thanked the orb. Turning gracefully, she walked into the water and swam back through the cave with her swords at her side.

When she resurfaced the second time she saw Sesshoumaru standing at the water's edge. Apparently he had noticed that she had been gone. Only a slight look of concern played across his normally indifferent face. Kagome smiled as she looked up at him. "We can go back to the others." she told him. "I just took care of the stones and the tower's defenses." Sesshoumaru almost let his curiosity show but was quickly under control, the demon lord simply nodded and walked back to their camp so she could get dressed. It was unspoken between them that they would leave as soon as she had put her clothes back on.

The journey back to Tokyo would take at least four days. They had been closer than they thought. They took it as a blessing that they were so close and decided to run most of the way. Provided that they didn't encounter anything too big they would get there in maybe even a day and a half.

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The city of Tokyo was unusually quiet.

Normally the beginning of summer was festival season. Now though, the people lay hidden within their homes. It was too dangerous to have the festivals. The demons were attacking everywhere and they had no idea when they would be next.

Soldiers lined the parapets and walls around the city flinching at even the slightest noise. They were ready to defend the city at any moment. Their eyes were ringed with dark circles, none of them slept for more than an hour at a time. It was unlikely that they would sleep normal until things calmed down. Or when the Lady Kagome returned. None of them had been told why she was gone, only that they must wait diligently for her return with the demon lord Sesshoumaru. She had been gone for about three weeks now. They hoped that she would return soon, they didn't know how long they could keep this up.

Drizzt and the others keenly noticed their weariness. They too wished that Kagome would come back to them.

"How long must we wait? I cannot take this much longer!" Drizzt cried out in frustration. His anger was directed at the elfmaid that sat across from him. He quickly quieted down when he felt a hand on his arm, he didn't have to look to know that it was Artemis.

Grateful for the assassin's intervention she continued their conversation. "I have had only little word from Kagome. I haven't had any since you relayed her message. I have not been able to reach-" She was cut off by a loud humming noise coming from one of her pockets. Yuri took the mirror out and set it on the table open. The voice that came through surprised them all.

"It's about time I got through to you. Were you in an antimagic chamber or something?" Kagome's voice asked playfully from the mirror.

Yuri let out a sigh of relief. At least now the companions wouldn't try to strangle her..."It is good to hear from you little one. I shall assume that you've found something. You would not sound so happy if you didn't."

"I destroyed the central power stone to Nokira's tower. I went to bathe a little while ago and these orbs started showing up all around me, one of them led me through an underwater cave and to some kind of chamber. I battled against another orb which I think was some kind of guardian spirit. I defeated it and it showed me to the central stone at which point I destroyed it. The tower can't hide itself now and will make it so Zakhra believes that it can."

The others were almost jumping with delight. They now had a great advantage over the demon in the comming battle. Yuri cleared her throat to still them. "Is there anything else?" she asked Kagome.

"The guardian I defeated said that it and the tower's defenses would not serve Zakhra on account that he tried to kill Nokira. They have chosen to serve me and will aide us in the tower. Me and anyone that comes with me will be perfectly safe there save for any enemies."

This time Yuri did jump for joy. "This is great news!" she exclaimed as she clapped her hands together once. "You have taken away a great amount of power from him and given us much more. Well done Kagome! Are you returning to us?"

"We're on our way now. We just have to make a quick stop to pick up Rin. We should be at the temple in three days at most. One and a half if we run."

"All haste with you then little one." The conversation ended as the mirror went blank, Yuri turned back to face Drizzt. "Are you satisfied now?" she asked and his gaze dropped to the floor in apology. "You must all start preparing now, you will leave as soon as soon as she returns or soon after at the latest. We cannot afford to lose any advantage. I will inform the city guards that the battle will come soon."

All of the companions nodded and filed out of the room.

Drizzt left for his own room with Artemis following close behind him. They didn't say a word to each other for a moment, they were both thinking of the other things that would happen upon Kagome's return.

It wasn't that they didn't want her back, on the contrary, they were wishing her all speed for her return to the temple. It was just that her being back meant that there would be a big choice for them to make. They knew that Kagome had said that she didn't mind them being together and they hadn't actually gotten around to intercourse yet, but what was Kagome really feeling about them becoming lovers? Was she just saying that she didn't mind to make Drizzt feel better about it? Or did it genuinely not bother her?

Drizzt turned slowly to face Artemis. "What are we going to do?" he asked.

Entreri gently took the drow's face in his hands and caressed it. "We'll figure something out. I can deal with not being able to have you. You love her and you should be with her. Who knows...maybe she really _doesn't _mind." Entreri leaned his face closer to Drizzt's so their lips were almost touching. "Don't worry about it so much." he whispered soothingly while his hands traveled through the ranger's snow white mane. Drizzt fell into his arms greatfully accepting the comfort, then wanting just a little more he lifted his head up to look at Artemis directly and kissed him softly on the mouth. Entreri purred softly and then led him to the bed. They curled up together for what would perhaps be their last night in the same bed.

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The weather seemed to agree that bad things were about to happen. Storms now over the entire island. The rain poured down as the night wore on, the companions sat together wondering if this was nature's way of foreshadowing disaster.

Thunder boomed loudly in the distance, it came again a moment later only now it was on the temple itself. Drizzt looked up from his daze, thunder did not travel that fast. The booming came again, louder this time, was there someone trying to enter. It was hard to tell over the rain. The pounding came once more, it was too insistent to be thunder. It stopped all of the sudden someone had opened the door, the companions looked up from the floor of the entry hall. The sight before them stole their breath.

Kagome stood on the temple steps calmly, the wind whipped her hair around behind her in almost a heroic poise. And though she was completely drenched, she looked like an angel. Her smile seemed to shine more than the lightning. Drizzt didn't know what to say as he stared at her. Finally he gave up and said nothing, instead he ran right to her and embraced her tightly. He didn't notice that tears streamed down his face along with the rain.

Kagome allowed him to stay put for a few minutes and then pulled away. "We have to go now." she stated. "Zakhra is already in the tower. We have to move fast. Even if the tower wont work for him, he's planning a full assault on Tokyo and the surrounding area."

The companions were already expecting this and as such had packed all of their gear. They raced away into the night. The tower of Nokira would stand before them before the end of the next hour.

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Nothing came at them as they ran. The way to the tower was perfectly clear as the guardian had told Kagome it would be. They had managed to arrive at the tower in half the time they had expected. It loomed before them in all its imposing figure.

"Lets go." Kagome said to them. No one bothered to answer, they just stepped forward silently. Zakhra still had no idea that they were there. They were hoping to keep it that way. The tower opened its doors as soon as Kagome touched them.

They stalked silently through the halls. Again as with the forest the way was completely clear for them, it seemed that the tower had claimed most of the demon fodder. Zakhra would not be pleased with that. Kagome mentally asked the tower guardians where he was. In response they pulled her in the right direction. The others followed closely behind her as not to lose their way. The tower guardians brought her to a large room on the fifth floor. For a moment she found that it was hard to breathe, and had it not been for the surprised and angry look on the face of her enemy she would have stopped.

Zakhra regained himself quickly. "So you have arrived." he growled. He waved his hand through the air and trapped all but her in writhing black tentacles. "You are just in time to die!" he screamed as he lunged at her with his sword drawn.

Kagome barely got Radiant Death up fast enough to block him. She parried just as fast with Kaga-to scoring a hit on his free arm. She managed to push him back far enough to swing Radiant Death back around to strike him again but she missed. Zakhra let out a maniacal laugh and lunged at her again, bearing his sword to pierce her heart. The others could only watch in cold terror as the battle commenced.

Kagome regained her footing and launched sever more slashing attacks with both of her swords. She only hit him with six out of nine hits but it was enough to throw him off. He chose then to use more of his demonic power. He sent his energy into his sword and its deadly edge glowed red. It gleamed hungrily wanting to steal her life. Kagome knew well its bite.

Zakhra began to attack faster and faster. All too soon for those watching their movements become nothing but a blur. They could not tell what was going on, not even Nira whose eyes were used to such fast motion. The sound of their blades hitting each other was nothing more than one solid and constant ring of steel.

Kagome managed to dodge most of his attacks. After one parry however, the demon gained an advantage in having made her overbalance herself. As she was falling to the floor his sword stabbed through her hard. Amazingly, it missed any vital organs. She would survive the injury is she got out of here. A rush of adrenaline coursed through her, Kagome let out a stubborn growl and forced herself up. She managed to get her blades up and offered a severe injury of her own to his person. Zakhra screamed in outrage as her sword ran through his flesh. He jumped over to the other side of the room holding the wound. "You will not see the end of me you foolish girl! I will not be defeated so soon!" Zakhra cried as he thrust his hand into the air bringing forth a different kind of energy. There was a bright flash of light and Zakhra disappeared.

The battle was over.

Kagome fell to the floor with the pain of her wound. "NOO!! I'll get you!!" she screamed. She could not hold herself up, her breathing was becoming too labored. She collapsed to the floor. The last thing she remembered before blackness was Drizzt crying for her to please get up and not to worry, that he was there. She managed to smile in effort to comfort him and then she lost all consciousness.


	19. Chapter 18: Time To Heal

A/N: I know a lot of people must hate me right now, not only for the cliff hanger but the spelling errors. Please disregard my mistakes for the time being. It took me four days to write the last chapter. I will go back and fix everything, including things I missed from all the other chapters that I went through before. Thank you for your patience with me and for reading this far.

Disclaimer: Drizzt and Co. belong to R.A. Salvatore. Kagome and anyone else from Inuyasha belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I'm pretty sure you know my charactors by now.

So now we get to see what happens. Yay!!

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Chapter Eightteen: Time To Heal

The next thing she knew was the cheerful twittering of birds and bright sunlight streaming in through a window. Kagome sat up slowly and ignored the sharp pain in her abdomin. Hesitantly she opened her eyes to see where she was. Her room in the temple. Someone had drawn the curtains wide open for some reason and the room was filled with the brilliant glow of the late afternoon sun. Kagome carefully got out of bed to look outside.

Any other time the sight of outside would fill her with joy.

Right now she was honestly concidering blowing up the birds. Their excited sounds were only mocking her at the moment. A sparrow splashed in the birdbath and Kagome morbidly wondered what it would look like fried.

The bedroom door opened behind her but she didn't bother to look. What did it matter?

"What are you doing out of bed baby? You should be asleep." Hitori said as he came to her side. Kagome turned to face him but said nothing in return. She only gazed sadly at him. Understanding her need to be moving Hitori continued. "Let's go for a walk." he suggested and he grabbed her a soft white robe from the closet. When Kagome didn't bother taking it from him the half drow put it over her small figure himself then led her out of the room. He noted that she wasn't leaning heavily on him which was a good thing, it meant that her wounds were healing. Hitori supressed a shiver as he remembered her condition when the others had brought her back. Her pale skin had become slightly grey from bloodloss and she was completely limp in Drizzt's arms; she had barely been breathing. As he looked at her more closely he sensed that there were other wounds that she still had to heal from. Hitori felt that he couldn't really blame her, he knew he would feel the same way if it had been him. "You shouldn't let it get to you. There'll be other chances." He blurted.

Kagome looked over at him incredulously. Hitori instantly felt guilty facing that glare. But at the same time he felt that he had to take a stand. "I mean it Kagome, this isn't the first time that he's gotten away from you. If you keep beating yourself up then you will never truly win. It isn't your fault that he got away, you just weren't expecting him to be able to leave." He stared into her eyes intently hoping his point got across to her. "It is not your fault." he stated again firmly. Kagome's glare softened to something akin to hopelessness. He sat her down on a bench that they were passing in the temple garden and sat down next to her. She stared at the ground now, as though she was too ashamed to look at anything else. It was obvious to Hitori that she was fighting back tears. He took her face gently in his hand and lifted it so her eyes would meet his. "It's not your fault." he said softly. Kagome's bottom lip began to tremble and Hitori took her into his arms. Finally unable to hold it in any longer she began to cry. Hitori held her through it, cradling her head in the crook of his neck. She didn't say anything at all as she cried, she let her tears out completely letting herself go.

Her small body gave a last shaking sob and she was silent. Hitori once again turned her face to look at her. Kagome was falling asleep now, tears still rolled quietly down her face but the worst had past. He gently picked her up and carried her back to her room in the temple. The others watched him attentively as he passed hoping to see if she was any better. Hitori turned enough to let them see that she was sleeping as he offered Drizzt a reassuring look and motioned for them all to follow.

"This is still hard for her." Hitori said to the others when Kagome was safely in bed. He turned to look at them each individualy. "You must not force her to tell you anything. If she wants you to know she'll tell you when she is ready. And don't try looking into her head either." He left it at that and left the room. The others soon followed suit.

"I'm worried about her." Drizzt whispered. Artemis nodded and put an arm around him. Jarlaxle and Kimmuriel did nothing, they didn't know what to do. In the end they decided to go to their rooms and leave the other two alone. Artemis led Drizzt into his room then gave the drow a questioning look as he held his face in his hands. "I'll be alright I think." Drizzt answered the look. Artemis nodded again and pulled Drizzt to the bed and held him. Drizzt allowed himself to cry softly in Entreri's arms.

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_There was nothing she could do. The little girl was completely helpless. As much as she tried she could not wake her father up. Her mother was just as motionless. She couldn't possibly understand that they were dead._

_The house was on fire and begining to collapse. The little girl ignored this, she had to wake her parents up. They had to get out or they would get hurt. She took no notice of her father's blood covering her hands. He was going to get up! He always got up!_

_The little girl called out to him franticly. He had to get her and mommy out!_

_But he wasn't waking up._

_The little girl fell to the floor next to him. Sobs overcame her tiny body, what was she going to do? She wanted her brother. And daddy wouldn't wake up. And mommy wasn't waking up either._

_Loud noises were comming from the ceiling and the floor was starting to shake. Why was the floor shaking? Was there another monster in the house? Was the bad man comming back to hurt her like he did to mommy and daddy?_

_One of the support beams from the ceiling fell to the floor and crashed through it. She cried again for her daddy to wake up. But he didn't._

_Most of the house was consumed by the fire already, it was amazing that it was still standing. A rush of air caught her attention. The door was open now and someone was comming inside._

_One of her daddy's friends was in the house, he picked her up and tried to tell her that they had to get out. She tried to tell him that her mommy and daddy weren't waking up and he had to get them too. He looked at her sadly and she was begining to understand. She knew that her parents would never wake up. The volume of her cries increased greatly as he brought her out into the rain. Part of the roof caved in just as they left. He covered her with part of his cloak and she clung to his shirt._

_She didn't see more of the house fall and she didn't know where her daddy's friend was taking her. She just hoped it was to her brother._

Kagome's eyes were forced open for the second time that day. She once again looked around her room, the curtains were closed and so was the window. It had to be nighttime. Hitori was by her side again but he was alseep in the chair next to her bed. Drizzt was on the other side with Entreri, he was asleep but Artemis wasn't. The assassin gave her a small smile, Kagome returned it.

Entreri tried to say something a few times but he couldn't find the right words. Kagome noted his difficulty with a little interest. "It's about you and Drizzt isn't it?" she asked gently.

"I-I.." Entreri started again and cleared his throat to regain himself. "Does it really not bother you?"

Kagome gave a little giggle. "Is that all?" she asked and gave another chuckle at the look in his face. "It doesn't bother me. If you two like each other and you want to be together then you should be together. I can share. And if he decides that he wants you more then that's fine."

"But what if he _does_ want me more? What would that do to you?" Entreri pressed quietly. "I don't want to steal him from you."

Kagome's eyes widened. "You care that much?" She tried to sit up but found it too difficult to do for the time being. 'I must have overexerted myself' she thought.

"I care about both of you, yes. Don't ask me when it happened, I've been trying to figure that out myself." Entreri answered.

"You love him." Kagome whispered. The assassin looked at her curiously. "You do." she continued, "Maybe you just don't realize it yourself. You love him."

It was Artemis' time to laugh. "That's it then. I've spent so long trying to deny it. Who would've thought?"

Drizzt stirred in Artemis' arms. "What time is it?" he asked.

"Shortly before midnight." Kagome replied. Drizzt looked over at her and a delighted smile spread across his face.

He crawled onto the bed with her and carefully lifted her into his arms. "You're awake. I'm so glad." He burried his face in her hair.

"I told Artemis what I told you before." Kagome whispered.

Drizzt's body stiffened. "Are you sure?" he asked hesitantly.

"I'm sure. I'm going back to sleep now though."

"Do you want us to leave?" Entreri asked. Kagome nodded and he and Drizzt got up. They left Hitori asleep in the chair.

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Hitori sat up just after the door closed. "I never thought he would fall in love with anyone." he mused. He had known of Entreri for years and everything he had heard was that he was cold, ruthless and heartless. There was no possible way he could have feelings or so the people said. Apparently the people are wrong, he thought. "I hate to press the matter but does it really not bother you?"

Kagome shook her head. "It really doesn't. I don't think it should. Anyway they've been waiting to know for sure and I know that neither of them wants to hurt me. Not like Inuyasha."

"That's good to hear." Hitori replied smiling. "I wonder what they're going to do." He tilted his head to the side in thought then grinned mischieviously.

"I'm good." Kagome laughed. "That's their business. I wonder what Kitana will think of this."

"She'll probably get a little jealous. But he does like women too, so she still has a chance."

They shared another laugh and Kagome laid back down to go to sleep. Hitori stayed with her for the night, just to keep her company.

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_In Entreri's room..._

"What do we do now?" Drizzt asked. He was still shocked by the fact that their relationship didn't bother Kagome and that she was so willing to share.

"I think we should go to bed personally." Entreri offered. Drizzt readily agreed with the idea concidering they had not slept well over the last few days that Kagome had been sleeping. Her injuries had also taken a toll on the two of them.

"Artemis?" Drizzt whispered huskily. Entreri looked over at him surprised by his tone. "Kiss me." Entreri leaned over him and claimed his mouth, the two embraced in a deep and passionate kiss touching each other hungrily all through it. "Make love to me!" Drizzt gasped when they broke for air. "Do it now!"

Entreri pulled away from the drow's eager grasp. Drizzt looked up at him in confusion. He knew Artemis wanted this, so why had he pulled away?

The assassin lay back down atop him and softly pressed his fingertips to the drow's lips. "Not yet." he whispered. Artemis knew that he was fighting himself as well. He wanted Drizzt more than the ranger could ever imagine. It was so hard to not take the willing drow into his arms and fuck him so much he screamed. He wanted to do it.

"Why not?" Drizzt asked sounding slightly disappointed. He could feel Entreris hard legnth pressing firmly against his thigh, ready to take him at any moment.

"It's not the right time." Artemis replied hushedly. "Let's go to bed now."

Drizzt stopped his eager grinding reluctantly. He turned to his side and Artemis curled in behind him.

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The wound was still bleeding heavily. Even after three days the effect of the girl's sword still gripped him. He would need a lot of magic to heal thid wound.

Zakhra growled impatiently. The priest was late. Trust humans to be slow.

Seemingly hearing this thought the priest in question entered the room. "I am very sorry for my lateness Master. Do forgive me I was attending other matters."

"Just shut up and tend to me." the demon roared.

The priest bowed deeply. "Yes, right away Master." Once again he cast his most powerful healing spell on the demon lord.

Once again, it only healed a minor amount of the wound.

"I do not understand Master. That should have taken care of the wound in an instant." The priest was almost whining. "What kind of power could do this to you?"

"Never mind that." Zakhra hissed in pain. "Find a more powerful spell. And if you can't do it then find me someone who can!" Zakhra sat on his throne fuming. How had she been able to injure him like this? And all from a single hit. He had been lucky to escape with such an injury and not to mention the tower guards trying to hold him in. The tower....How had she taken the tower without him knowing?

"It would seem that I must prepare better from now on Kagome." He growled into the darkness.


	20. Chapter 19: Falling Down

A/N: Look out for a few new stories by me. I don't know what I'm going to do with them right away so that's why I haven't posted them yet. I'm going to try to get into them before I post them and see where they take me. So now let us move along with this mess.

Disclaimer: Drizzt and Co. belong to R.A. Salvatore. Kagome and the characters from Inuyasha belong to Rumiko Takahashi. My own characters include: Hitori, Kitana, Yuri, Nira, Zakhra (and any of his minions) and anyone else that I have previously claimed as my own.

Anyway....

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Chapter Nineteen: Falling Down

It didn't matter if Zakhra had gotten away now, he was badly injured now and Kagome knew it. Radiant Death had relayed that fact to her clearly. It also told her that the wound was not healing no matter what he was doing to fix it. Kagome wasn't sure what this newly revealed ability of her sword was but she was sure it could be used to gain more of an advantage. The sword was also giving her glimpses of the demon lord himself. She would find him. She would kill him. That was that.

Or it would have been if she had any idea of where to look. The visions she had were only brief flashes of a different place. It wasn't terribly close either.

She sat in the dojo of the temple as she had been doing for the last two days. Kagome knew she couldn't practice all that well right now, her own injuries were still a little painful. That didn't mean she wasn't still determined. She stood gracefully as she had many times withdrawing her swords and extending her arms out to either side of her body. Kagome's left hand twisted slightly and Kaga-to came down in an elegant arc. Radiant Death was brought up to her front and she turned to the left and slashed it down upon an imaginary opponent. Kaga-to came back up and in for a short stab. Kagome twirled both blades around as though fending off an attack from behind, a quick one-two thrust brought it down. She reversed her grip on Radiant Death and flipped it into the air turning again as she caught it in time to aim perfect slash at another imaginary attacker. Before she completed her turn she brought one arm up over her head and held the other at her waist, spinning both swords again and then thrusting them down into a single point. Kagome pulled back her weapons and held them out with their points barely touching the floor. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, she was much better now. Whatever Radiant Death had done to Zakhra was also healing her.

The sound of applause from the doorway brought her to attention. She opened her eyes and turned to see who it was. Jarlaxle was the one clapping though the others were only gazing at her in admiration. All six of them were there, her friends.

"That was a most magnificent performance. I am honored to have witnessed such a display. You are truly a wonderful fighter Kagome." Jarlaxle said excitedly and with a huge grin on his face. "Perhaps you could honor us with a few sparring matches?"

Kagome gently raised an eyebrow at him. What was he getting at she asked herself. Why was he waiting until now to ask her to spar with them? He had seen her fight before and surely he knew that he would be no match for her. Maybe it was just because he wanted to know how much better she was feeling. Jarlaxle wasn't really a bad guy and it was certainly in his nature to be caring. Was that it then? "Alright." she replied after a moment of thought. "Who's first?" she asked them and for the first time that day she smiled. Jarlaxle courteously stepped forward to fight her, since he was the one who issued the challenge it was only right that he go first even though he knew that he would get his ass kicked.

Kagome noticed his uneasiness and smiled all the wider. This was going to be fun.

They all sparred for hours. Drizzt, Entreri and Nira fared the best against Kagome. Hitori had sat on the sidelines and Kimmuriel and Jarlaxle both lost miserably to the girl. Not being the gloating type, Kagome pulled them both back to their feet and offered to find them a really good meal for tonight. This invitation extended to the others as well. After they were washed and had put on clean clothes Kagome took them out to one of her favorite Tokyo restaurants. They were seated in a private room and were given the most wonderful four course meal they had ever eaten. By the early evening they were stuffed full of food. They returned to the temple shortly after sunset.

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Zakhra let out a growl, this one more fierce than the last. He had been growling with greater frequency throughout the time his priests were attempting to heal him. Every time they cast a healing spell however, barely anything happened. The wound was definitely not healing. What was worse was that there was a new kind of pain coming into the wound, something like a priestess' purification powers. It stung like venom throughout his body.

He stopped the priest just as he was about to cast another healing spell. He found that he could take no more of this stinging pain and wondered once again what in the Nine Hells has the girl done to him to hurt him so much. What new power had she gained in their years of fighting?

He growled again, this time in anger. His priest tried to approach him and was slain where he stood.

The others backed off quickly not wanting to be killed. They all ran out of the room upon his command further desiring their lives.

The demon lord leaned back in his chair. This was becoming far too frustraiting. He called on another one of his minions and told him to find out more about Kagome's new ability. Zakhra was determined to know as much as he could so he could destroy her.

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Later into the night Kimmuriel and Hitori were sitting in their room as usual. What was not usual was the fact that they were not in each other's arms.

"Why did you tell me not to look into her head?" Kimmuriel blurted. He had been pondering this for the last two days. Hitori looked up from the other side of the room.

For a moment the half drow just stared at him as if the answer was obvious. "I just think it would be wrong is all. Even I don't know what happened the night she lost her parents. The only thing I really know is that Zakhra killed them. That and Shiara took her out of the house while it was burning." Hitori shook his head for some reason Kimmuriel could not discern. "Just please leave her alone about this. I'm sure she'll tell us all when she's ready." He stared into his lover's eyes intently.

Kimmuriel let out a small sigh. "Alright. I wont do anything." Hitori gave him a rewarding smile and climbed onto the bed with him. "What are you planning?" the psionicist asked suspiciously.

Hitori nuzzled into his neck and kissed it lightly. "I was thinking that we could end this stupid curse that's still on me." Something in the leading tone of Hitori's voice had Kimmuriel shivering with anticipation.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Kimmuriel asked not having lost any of his suspicions. In response Hitori climbed on top of him and started kissing him more eagerly, before he knew it they were both topless and his pants were coming off. Hitori's hand stroked him tenderly, coaxing him to full hardness. Kimmuriel felt clearly that his love was already there. Something was different about Hitori's touch this time. Somehow it was more demanding, like he was when he wanted the half drow. The latter pulled him up into a sitting position for another hard kiss, slamming him into the headboard in the process.

"I want to do it to you now." Hitori whispered huskily. The amount of heated passion in his voice surprised the psionicist, just as well he did not disagree. He had done it to Hitori enough times, it was his turn to take it. Not that he minded, he had been waiting for the half drow to take his turn for a while now.

"Do it then!" he moaned as Hitori ground harder into him. Kimmuriel put his hands up onto the headboard to lean against, his pans and undergarments were gone and he tried not to moan too much as Hitori prepared him. Hitori meanwhile, freed himself from the rest of his clothing and positioned himself behind Kimmuriel. Hitori thrust in hard while he braced himself on the headboard with one hand and began to tug on Kimmuriel's hard length with the other.

His thrusts were hard and perfectly aimed at Kimmuriel's sweet spot. Hitori lustily licked his neck causing the drow to moan louder. The half drow's hands slid down to his waist and gripped it tightly. With the added leverage Hitori pulled Kimmuriel away from the headboard and bent him over in front of himself all while still pumping hard. The drow then started to stroke himself along with Hitori's body.

Hitori let out a moan signaling that he was nearing his orgasm. They both came soon after.

They fell together to the bed panting. "You like that baby?" Hitori asked teasingly. Kimmuriel only groaned in response.

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Kagome lay awake in her bed, it was after midnight and the visions still hadn't stopped. Flashes of Zakhra kept rocketing through her mind, some were only there for a second or less and she could not make anything from them. Finally fed up with the lack of clarity she grabbed up Radiant Death from the floor. Focusing her energy into the blade she asked it to give her a clear image of the demon.

At first the sword seemed reluctant to obey her. This was odd seeing that it had never done such a thing. Kagome wondered if the release of the strange new power had been an accident. But she had to know what was going on, she needed to see where Zakhra was so she could save all of the innocent people he was planning to kill, she had to! As though hearing this thought Radiant Death warmed and began to pulse un her hand. Was this what it had wanted? An admission that she was not only after the demon for her own revenge? She honestly wouldn't be surprised, Kagome knew that the sword had a mind of its own. _"Will you show me now?"_ she asked it mentally. The sword pulsed again and a clear vision came into her mind at last.

_The demon lord was in pain, she could feel it clearly. No matter what he was doing the wound would not heal. The priests weren't helping either, their spells only seemed to hurt him more. Zakhra was angrily wondering what she had done to him. He would get her somehow. He would get the wound to heal. His arm was beginning to cause him more trouble now, it was getting harder to keep the magic flowing into it. Curse her for taking the arm in the first place._

_The scar on his face was beginning to bleed too. So were a few of the other scars on his body. An idea hit him that he had not found before. What if they were caused by one of her swords. He knew for a fact that the latest wound was from the one called Radiant Death. Was it an ability of the sword that was causing him so much pain? But he knew that he would never be able to get a hold of that weapon._

_But maybe there was another way..._

_Pain shot up his side again. He had to rest. He could think of how to fix his latest problem another time._

The next thing she saw was the sunlight creeping through the curtains of her window. How late had it been when she called the vision, Kagome wondered. How long had it lasted?

At least she knew more about Zakhra's condition. He was severely disabled by whatever Radiant Death had done to him, it didn't matter that he had figured out that it was the sword. He would never be able to get it and none of his followers could use it. Now she just had to keep an eye on him and learn what he was going to do. Kagome closed her eyes and tried to ward off the headache that was threatening to erupt in her head. It was no use though, she got one anyway.

Kagome decided to get up and go into the dojo to meditate. She had to learn how to properly use Radiant Death's new abilty. The door slid open. Would she ever be left alone? The person who opened the door chuckled. "Now that's not nice immota."


	21. Chapter 20: Seeing Double

A/N: Hello again! I have a surprise for you that entered in the last chapter. More specifically, the last sentence of the last chapter. Just a quick pronuncition and definition point out. The word 'immota' (im-oh-tuh) is the Japanese word for sister and is most commonly used for siblings that are about the same age but more so by twins (if the female one is older if not then it would be imouto). This does not disclude regular siblings, but they would usually say onee-san. Its opposite word is 'ototo' it just means brother in the informal manner. That's pronounced 'oh-to-to' (like the dog from The Wizard of Oz.)

Disclaimer: Drizzt and Co. belong to R.A. Salvatore. Kagome and anyone else from Inuyasha belong to Rumiko Takahashi. All of my characters have previously been claimed but there will be two new ones (one only has a small part) in this chapter and throughout those following.

Thank you have a nice day.

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Chapter Twenty: Seeing Double

"Have you learned anything about the effects of my injuries yet or must I kill you as well?" Zakhra said to the latest priest he had hired to attempt to heal him. This one had seemed a bit more promising than the others and the demon lord was reluctant to kill him for that reason. However, he was still in an extremely foul mood. Ih this one turned out to be another useless waste of time, he knew he would likely take this one's head as well.

"I believe so Master." The priest replied uneasily. He could only guess what his master was thinking at the moment. He hoped that he had discovered enough to save his head. "I believe that the power of the girl's sword triggered some kind of energy flux. It steals your power thus lowering your ability to heal. As a side effect, every wound you have recieved from that sword and those similar have begun to bleed. I also believe that since her sword's energy is pure by nature, it causes our attempts to heal you to bring you harm."

Zakhra glowered at the priest. He had already been able to discern half of that on his own. The priest shrunk back and swallowed a growing lump in his throat. "And what of the girl?" the demon demanded. "What of her current state?"

The priest swallowed hard again. "By all appearances she seems to be recovering quickly. Perhaps the combined power of her sword and your other injuries from the Charon's Claw have formed a sort of vampiric conduit." The priest continued to back off as he noticed that his masters angry disposition had not changed.

"You have served your purpose." Zakhra said and the priest was barely able to let out a sigh of relief before his head was rolling across the floor. The demon fell back into his chair, even such a minor execution had taken a toll on him. Perhaps the priest had been right.

More and more blood was oozing from his wound. He could no longer control it.

The demon lord snatched up one of his minions from the floor and drained him completely of blood. It helped a little, but it would take many more feedings before he could regain at least a small amount of power. He cared nothing for his followers and drained a few more before he chose to retire for the night. There had to be another way for him to heal himself. If only Malice or one of her drow had survived....

And then he remembered.

One of the matron's daughters had gotten away. If he found her, he would be able to re-absorb a good deal of his power. It had taken a lot to resurrect them, if he drained her blood and power he would have a chance to win.

The demon smiled wickedly. The drow woman would be easy enough to find.

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Nagaira Sosuro was an aspiring musician and fighter. Unfortunately for him he was extremely impatient and had trouble keeping his mouth closed in the face of certain events. Before he could be accepted into any of the finer schools in Japan, he had to prove himself worthy of such an honor. He had to work hard and practice with the aforementioned. It would also be a greater blessing for him if he learned a bit of humility.

Unfortunately for him, he was paired with a slightly obnoxious though very skilled person. Anyone else would have taken having this person as their partner as an honor. Everyone but Nagaira who did. The little monster as the latter often called him was on his list of least favorite people and that might have something to do with the fact that a bucket of very cold water had just landed on his head.

Again.

"Damn it Amon!" Nagaira screamed and not for the first time at his partner. "That's not funny!" A small chuckle came from one of the darker corners of the hall. Nagaira promptly lunged at the spot. And crashed into the wall.

His partner stepped right out of the opposite wall politely trying to hide another laugh but failing to get rid of the last hints of a smile.

"What was that for?" Nagaira growled as he rubbed his throbbing head.

"Yesterday." Amon said simply. Nagaira did not bother to question him further, nor did he complain. He had at least learned that complaining would get him nowhere when it came to his partner. Everyone else saw his methods of teaching promising if not a little unconventional. He was after all the son of the two most skilled warriors in Japan. Amon and his twin sister were regarded among the highest ranks of Japan and even in other countries.

Nagaira was not about to deny Amon's fighting or magical capabilities. He did not, however, enjoy being made into the younger boy's practice dummy. He dreaded being in this temple a little more than usual for the other simple fact that his twin was somewhere in the building. Twins equal an even bigger headache. Maybe they would be too happy to see each other to prank him like they normally did...

Nagaira wondered again as he had many times before why he had been stuck with Amon as his mentor. If he had known things would be like this he would have high tailed it out of there much sooner and would have even given up on pursuing his dream to be a big musician. And now it was too late. Amon would never let him give up. They were stuck together, no matter how much he hated it. He looked up to see his partner standing completely still and watching him with concern clearly evident on his features. Amon was waiting for him to get up. Nagaira shook off what was left of his daze and accepted Amon's offered hand. He let the hand go as soon as he was on his feet and leaned on the wall for the sake of his pride. Amon remained silent until he was ready to walk again.

"You must always expect such deceptions from an opponent." He explained slowly. "Though not all people are possessed of my abilities, you have no way of knowing if the person you face is not. Being prepared to face illusions can often mean the difference between life and death. If this was a real battle you would have been killed."

"You planned that?" Nagaira asked incredulously. His partner just nodded. Why was he even surprised? "And let me guess, I should probably work on my temper too, right?" he added sarcastically.

"That would be a good thing."

"Right so, where's Kagome?"

Amon just shrugged and headed off in a random direction. Chances were that it would lead to his sister. Nagaira followed slowly behind and was proven right when he heard Amon's voice saying. "Now that's not nice immota." from down the hall. He turned the corner just in time to see Kagome jump up to hug her brother. Her _ototo_ as she called him. Nagaira smiled despite himself, and he had to admit, the twins weren't _that_ bad.

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It was still late at night and none of the companions were at all tired. Kagome had vanished into the dojo again a few hours ago. They didn't think it right to bother her, they could all tell that she was working on something important.

When Drizzt and Artemis decided that it was time for them to get some rest they were thoroughly surprised at the sight before them in the hall. On first inspection it looked like Kagome. And then like Kagome if she had been turned into a male. Drizzt was about to say something when the latter stepped out from behind the young male that looked almost exactly like her. He remembered a conversation they had had back when they first traveled together during which Kagome mentioned that she had a brother. Apparently, her brother was also her twin.

They both knew that it was not possible for twins of different genders to be identical, but these two looked amazingly alike. One could easily be mistaken for the other at certain angles. Identical grins spread across both of their faces as they watched the others look at them.

"Don't tell the others yet ok?" Kagome asked Drizzt. The ranger merely nodded and he and Artemis continued on their way. Likewise the twins went theirs. Another unfamiliar figure bumbled down the hall after them. The ranger and the assassin did not fail to notice the growing bruise on his forehead. It looked like he had been hit with something hard. Again they decided not to question it, everything would be explained to them eventually.

A little ways down the hall Amon turned to look at them over his shoulder. "That's him?" he asked his immota. Kagome nodded and they took a left in the long winding corridor. "And they sleep together?" he continued. Kagome nodded again. He didn't have a chance to ask her more as they had come to Yuri's office door. Together the twins stepped into the room and were greeted by the overly enthusiastic elfmaid. She hadn't been expecting Amon she said and it was a pleasant surprise to have him here.

The three sat down together to discuss Kagome's recent findings on Zakhra. Radiant Death's newly awakened abilities were just as much of a shock to Amon as they had been to everyone else. They made him wonder what his own weapons were capable of. He wielded their mother's swords and used them as Kagome used their father's. Of course he didn't know all of what happened on the night their parents were killed. That was one of the things Kagome refused to talk about with him. Over the years he had never pressed her for the information. He could understand how much it hurt her as only a twin could. He was not there with her when their parents had been slain, after he had found out he knew why he had wanted his sister so much. The bond was strong between them and often when one of them was in trouble, the other wanted nothing more than to be by their side. That was another twin thing.

When the subject came up of what they were going to do, Amon drew up a blank. He had not been there fighting as Kagome had but he promised that he would do as much as he could. Kagome mentioned that she would like to try to learn more of Zakhra's plans through Radiant Death. With Amon by her side it would be a much simpler task. The twins agreed that they should try immediately. Yuri dismissed them both so they could try to see more just as Nagaira hobbled into the room. Once he saw that they were leaving he let out a frustrated sigh and collapsed to the floor. Amon and Kagome looked at each other in amusement and dragged him out the door and to his own room. Nagaira would later be grateful for this. At least until another bucket of cold water landed on his head the next morning.

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Vierna sat on the hillside enjoying the night just as much as any surface elf would. It was good to be free of Matron Malice and her kin. It was too bad that she could not have stayed with Drizzt. She knew that she would have enjoyed traveling with her brother.

A soft rustling noise came from somewhere behind her. Vierna's hand slipped instinctively to one of the fans belted to her waist. She relaxed a moment later seeing that it was just Shiara with a rabbit in his hand. They would eat well tonight. Or she would at least, the elf never seemed to eat much. He had explained this off as him just not being a big eater and that he didn't really need to as much as other people. Certainly not as much as a human, he had added jokingly.

He skinned and cooked the rabbit wordlessly. There was no need for them to talk to each other right now, they were both enjoying the night and its sounds. The silence continued through their meal and the night. Shiara had long ago established that Vierna need not keep watch. He needed sleep less than he needed food. Vierna was amazed at how quickly the elf had recovered from his ordeal with her kin, he showed not sign of any type that he had been a prisoner of a drow matron. Again she passed it off as something she hadn't previously known about the surface elves. She fell asleep contently knowing that Shiara was there watching over her and she did not have anything to worry about.

Neither of them knew that at the same moment someone was looking for them. The demon lord had decided to hunt the last survivor of those he had brought back to life. He needed her blood, her power would be a good bonus to him as well. He had no idea that she was with someone else, or how powerful that person was. She had no idea that the elf she accompanied was not an elf at all. He had been hiding that fact from her rather well with one of his necklaces.

The priests of the demon lord were not having much luck in their search. It would take time that their master wasn't giving them. He demanded that they find that last of Malice's daughters so he could kill her. He had already killed off two more of them earlier that day. The priests did not give up on their search though, if they did then they would all die. The master was not forgiving and he always got what he wanted.

Shiara sniffed the air delicately, he felt the vibration of a scrying for a few seconds and tried to see where it was coming from. It disappeared as fast as it had come though, and he could get nothing from it. Whoever was doing the scrying was far away from him and Vierna. He figured that it was probably just some random wizard or priest scanning the area, maybe they were looking for a place to put a tower. Shiara turned his attention over to Vierna. The drow woman was lying comfortably in the bedroll he had gotten for her. He smiled as she let out a contented little sigh in her sleep. For a moment he felt inclined to join her but decided against it. He didn't want her to think he was up to something. Without another thought he turned his attention back to the sky and watched the night pass over them

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Zakhra cracked his energy whip at the priests again. They were not looking fast enough. He did not want to hear their excuses. He needed to find the drow woman fast. He did not believe that they needed more time. They had to find her now or suffer his wrath.

The priests continued to work as hard as they could even though they were still retreating from their master. They could only do so much. Their master's anger was not helping them move any faster, nor was his whip. Scrying took time. This one took even more because they had nothing of the drow woman's and they didn't even know her.

Zakhra cracked his whip again and the priests tried hard to ignore the dying screams of another one of their number. There had been a few hundred of them when they had first joined the demon lord, now there were only about a score of them left. They had thought that joining him would be a good thing. Now they were beginning to believe that it had been a horrible mistake, even for a brood of dark priests.

There had been whispers of rebellion against the demon lord within their ranks. Only the high priest was still willing to follow every order of the demon lord to the letter anymore. He tried to encourage his men that they should do the same. Zakhra could only bring them vast amounts of glory. And if they should die in his service it was an honor. The ones who had died by his hands had been fools and undeserving of such glorious deaths. They should fight. They should crush the real evil of the world, those under the names of the goodly gods. Only then would they ascend the gated of Paradise and become gods themselves and their godking would be the demon lord. They had to find the drow woman now so their master could regain his strength.

Another priest fell to the ground but his screams were completely drowned out by the master's laughter. All of the priests just turned away again. They had no choice but to do their master's bidding.


	22. Chapter 21: Seeing But Not Seen

A/N: Hello again, I think I started the last note to you guys that way too... Sorry for repeating myself lol. Anywho, a quick sort out and I shall let you be on your way. The character Amon in the last chapter is not the same Amon from Witch Hunter Robin, I like the name so I decided to use it for my own creation. It's the same story as my creation of Kitana. The two Amon's have no relation what so ever other than the shared name. I have no intention to steal the WHR Amon nor do I have any intention to steal the rights to the invention of the name itself. Second, he will have a more prominent roll than his partner/pupil Nagaira (Nah-guy-ruh). Nagaira was a convenient way for me to bring Amon in, you'll see him in bits and pieces though.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the companions as I have taken to calling them. They belong to R.A. Salvatore. Also I do not own any of the characters of his that I have used previously. Kagome and any characters from Inuyasha belong to Rumiko Takahashi. Anyone else is most likely mine unless otherwise claimed.

I'll leave you alone now.

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Chapter Twenty-One: Seeing But Not Seen

The twins sat together in one of the small magic rooms in the temple. They decided that a small room would be better for focusing their energies together, which they needed if what they were trying to do was going to work. Radiant Death lay between them. The twins were chanting in perfect concert, their hands clasping each others strengthening their bond. The sword began to pulse as it had for Kagome before and together they sent their energy into it willing it to give them a vision of their enemy.

_Zakhra was still angry, his wounds worse than before. Blood flooded heavily from them and he could not contain the bleeding for very long. He had killed many of his followers as a result, draining their blood to save his own life. The priests were not working to his satisfaction still. Every attempt for them to heal him still brought him more and more pain. He had killed four more all ready. The demon lord knew he had to be more careful, the priests were speaking of rebelling in hushed voices frequently. He could not afford to lose them, right now they were the greatest resource he had._

_Zakhra was determined now more then ever. His hand flashed violently with the power of his energy whip as he cracked it through the air. He screamed at his priests to work faster. "Find her or I will kill you all!"_

_This declaration caused the twins to flinch; now someone else was in danger. They could tell from how frantic he was acting that he was not looking for Kagome._

_The image of a drow female flashed through both of their minds. Amon not knowing who it was; Kagome recognizing her instantly. But what did he want with her? In response to her question the sword delved deeper into the demon lord's mind. He needed to find the matron's daughter and drain her completely. He had used a lot to bring Malice and her family back to life. That one had taken much more than the others. The twins understood that if he succeeded in killing her he would regain a large amount of his power, unlike Zakhra however, they knew he would not get all of it._

_They watched in utter disgust as he drained another one of his followers. The demon cursed Kagome again for causing this to happen. He cursed someone he called 'that demon bitch' for ever getting close enough to hit him with the Charon's Claw too. Through Radiant Death the twins felt more energy being forced out of Zakhra with his mention of the Charon's Claw. They filed it away for later use and withdrew their energy from the sword._

Amon and Kagome opened their eyes at exactly the same time, both were sweating heavily from the vision. They had gotten much more than either of them had been expecting. They took a minute to calm down before leaving the magic room, they would have to report this to Yuri as fast as possible. And then they had to find Shiara and see if Vierna was still with him.

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_It was about three in the morning when...._

Amon and Kagome burst into the elfmaid's room and jumped on her bed to wake her up to report their findings. Ordinarily they would not do something like this but this time was urgent. Yuri woke, quite irritated at them and scolded them for waking her up at this hour and told them to not jump on her bed again. The twins did not stop jumping until she got it into her head to listen to what they had to say.

She told them to find Shiara and let him know what was going on. If it was possible, bring Vierna to the temple. The twins who were already planning to do that were not surprised by her reasoning. They would go together to get Shiara. Yuri said that they should bring the others too, or at least Drizzt and Entreri. Nira would also be a good one to bring along. Again the twins had already thought of that, and told the elfmaid so. She glared up at them demanding why they had even woken her up in the first place.

"That's what you told us to do, remember?" they replied in unison. Yuri just shook her head in exasperation and dismissed the twins.

The twins walked down the hall together still thinking about what they had seen. They separated from each other to wake up who they needed. Amon going to find Nira and Kagome went to go get Drizzt and Entreri. She found them in bed together as usual, both were sleeping. A mischievous grin formed on her face as she looked upon them. This was the first time she had come in here without them being awake. Silently she strolled across the room and crawled onto Drizzt's side of the bed. She slipped her arm around his waist and fit herself behind him. The ranger grabbed her hand in his sleep without waking up and Entreri's arm stretched over the drow and around to her. Slowly she brought her mouth up to Drizzt's ear and licked all the way up from lobe to pointed tip.

Drizzt woke up startled by the sudden chill and sat up looking around. Kagome hid behind him and masked herself so he couldn't find her. She let him look around for a minute before tugging the covers off of Entreri, who woke up the second they were gone. The two stared at each other highly confused as to what was going on. Kagome chose to sneak up on them again taking advantage of the situation. She dove at Drizzt from behind, throwing him into Entreri and making herself known at the same time. The two would have attacked had it not been for the hysterical laughter coming from on top of Drizzt.

Kagome rolled off of Drizzt's back and onto the bed beside them. She was able to calm herself down to a giggle fit after a few minutes, then she looked at their still confused faces and started laughing all over again.

"Oh it hurts." she gasped holding her side. "That was priceless. You should see your faces!"

"What was that about?" Drizzt asked her as he sat her up.

She let out a small chuckle and continued, "I'm sorry I couldn't resist. I needed to wake you two up, we have another mission." Both the drow and Entreri were surprised at the sudden seriousness in her tone. They gave her their undivided attention as she began to explain. "We learned that Zakhra is looking for Vierna. He needs her so he can get back the power he used to resurrect her."

Drizzt's eyes widened in shock. "When do we leave?" he asked desperately.

"As soon as you two have everything."

The two hopped up off the bed instantly at her reply and were ready in under a minute. She led them down the hall where Amon was waiting with Nira. The five then flew off into the night with a spell the twins had already prepared. Kagome had pulled a feather out of her pocket and together the twins enlarged it so it would hold all of them and used their magic to fly them to wherever it was that they were going.

Amon informed them that they would be in the air for a few hours and advised them to get some sleep while they could. The twins had no idea what could be waiting for the five of them when they got to Shiara and Vierna. Drizzt and Entreri took the advice and fell into a restless sleep, Nira told them that he didn't need it and would look out for them while they piloted the feather. The demon also noted that Kagome had brought a bow with her. He recalled the fight with the half demon almost two months before, he didn't think that she was a priestess. Maybe she just had some of the abilities of one. His hands tightened on the feather briefly as it swooped down a few hundred feet to change their direction more eastward. Nira almost questioned the twins about the sudden change but held his tongue when he noticed that they were both in deep concentration. They knew where they were going. A necklace around Kagome's neck glowed dimly and levitated away from her chest, the amulet on the chain turned and pointed to the south and the feather instantly changed course again.

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_Deep within the confines of meditation Kagome became sensitive to everything around them. Amon was not too far behind. Both of the twins felt it clearly when Radiant Death pulsed a warning._

_The sword told them to be ready. The twins asked why and it replied with a whisper not its own._

_"We have found her Master."_

_The whisper, the twins understood, was from one of Zakhra's priests. They had finally located Vierna and they were sending a small horde of demons to retrieve her. Three priests would go as well, the High Priest among them._

_Radiant Death told them again to be ready. They were close now, the sword said. Time to wake your friends._

Kagome told Amon mentally to hold the feather in the air and let go of her half of the thing. Carefully she turned around to her sleeping friends, Nira had known to turn around when she moved. She shook Drizzt and Entreri gently to wake them and told them to get ready for a fight. The two eagerly shook off the last remnants of sleep and their hands grasped instinctively for their weapons.

They spotted Shiara first, standing in one of the many wildflower fields of the country side. The twins easily landed the feather right in front of him. It shrunk back to its original size once they were all off and flew back into Kagome's pocket. Shiara seemed surprised for a moment giving away to the others that this was not a common occurence. Shiara himself was wondering why they had not contacted him in the first place. Nonetheless, the others watched and relaxed when he took both twins in his arms for a tight hug. Vierna, having noticed all the sudden movement sat up in her bedroll and smiled.

The twins pulled away after a few minutes. This was the first time in a while they had seen their surrogate father together in a while (even though Kagome had seen him about a month ago herself). "Now tell me what's wrong." he said to them as they sat down around the low burning campfire. The twins described everything they had seen in perfect detail not leaving even the slightest thing out. Oddly enough, Vierna did not look overly surprised. As a former priestess she knew what such resurrection spells took. The body decayed over a long period of time and had to be rebuilt before it could be reanimated. Having raised so many would be taxing, even for a powerful demon lord. She paid closer attention when Kagome began to explain what she had just heard from Radiant Death, whispers that they had found Vierna and that they were coming for her.

Again, Vierna was not surprised. She knew from her studies that demons could not be trusted (no one else could either according to drow). They, like her kin, never did anything without wanting something in return. Most usually had some sort of failsafe. Whether or not they remembered it was another story entirely. Apparently, Zakhra had remembered her. Still, she reminded herself that these demons were different from the ones in the Abyss. Zakhra was not a balor that only wanted to wreak havoc on the material plane. He was a cold and calculated monster quite capable of thinking through his ornate plans. Her face showed no signs of worry at the fact that he was after her. Vierna was confident that whatever he sent their way would be easily taken care of by herself and the others. With the exception of Nira and Amon she had seen them all fight.

Half an hour later there was still no sigh of the demon horde. None of the group let up any of their vigil as time passed though. They knew that they could be attacked at any moment. Vierna wandered off a bit from the others to think. Why had Zakhra even revived her in the first place? She had known that he had meant to kill her and her other resurected kin as soon as he had what he wanted, obviously he hadn't cared if they died in the process. Wouldn't it have been better to simply go after what he wanted by himself rather than waste time and energy bringing back people he only wanted to use as fodder? It didn't make any sense. Her eyes wandered out across the field that lay before her, soon it would be covered in the blood of many demons and possibly the others. Not wanting to picture such things she turned her gaze back to the forest she was standing in. A night bird twittered and cooed not too far away from where she was. There was only half a moon tonight, but it was enough to give the place a comfortable glow.

Soft footsteps drew her out of her dreaming. Vierna didn't have to look up to know that it was Shiara coming twards her. She had grown accustomed to the elf's strange way of moving around. When she did look up, what she saw shocked her a bit. He was looking at her in a somewhat predatory manor, a shiver ran down her spine from that look. Gently he took her hands in his and leaned her against a large tree. He pushed himself against her somewhat over eagerly. Shiara's mouth claimed hers fiercely and Vierna let herself give in exploring him as he pulled her closer. They broke gasping for air, Shiara smiled at her when he saw her face. He liked looking at her while she was ridden with desire and her scent was driving him crazy. She looked up at him slightly confused.

"Later perhaps?" he whispered. Shiara turned and walked away.

The air was filled with a new tenseness. Something was coming this way. The wind picked up and everyone looked up from what they were doing. Hands grasped for weapons, twitching with anticipation. Sure enough the sky darkened signaling the arrival of the demon horde. Three priests accompanied them, riding on the backs of flaming demon horses. One all of them instantly identified as the high priest schreamed at the horde to attack. The companions drew their weapons and did their best to face the horde head on. Drizzt and Entreri hesitated, they had never faced such monsters before. They watched Kagome as she fearlessly jumped into the fray. Her blades sang their deadly song as they sliced through demon after demon. Nira merely used his claws, his hands made short work of his victims. He nodded to Entreri as encouragement. Artemis flexed his hand but his claws did not appear. A large bear demon reared up in front of them, the two friends screamed not knowing what to do. The bear's roar was silenced by Amon who had suddenly appeared at their side. His swords glowed much like Kagome's causing more demons to back away from them.

"If you want to use your claws you have to picture them out, then flex your hand." the boy explained. "It's just like the rest of your power, you have to want it to make it happen." Amon held his swords crossed up in front of him, daring more demons to attack. His swords produced their own flames as three were foolish to meet the challenge, clearly they did not know who he was. "Okay, make this harder on yourselves." Amon said to the group of demons. He brought his still crossed swords above his head then sliced them down producing a large X of fire that grew rapidly as it spread through the demon ranks.

Seeing her ototo's signal Kagome loosed her own swords' fire. The companions heard her cry out "Dance of blades!" then saw the crescent shaped blades of fire streak across the sky slicing easily through the demons.

Across the way Shiara hacked at a snake demon with his stolen drow sword. The weapon was not faring well against the thick hide. The blade bent in half and was completely useless. He did not have much time to think on that as an entirely new energy passed over him. He felt his blood welling up inside him wanting to be released. It urged him to change his form and fight. Shiara looked over to Nira who seemed to be experiencing the same thing. The pup Artemis didn't look like anything was happening to him, but it could be that his newly released blood was protected from such an attack. Both Shiara and Nira fell to the ground wrapped in black electrical coils. The more they tried to throw it off the more it hurt them. Their blood begged to be released, screaming at them to unleash their full demon forms. Their eyes glowed red revealing their struggle to the twins who knew what was going to happen, the other three just looked on confused. Vierna managed to kill a few worm demons with the fanblades but other than that Amon was doing most of the work on that part of the field.

The two demons screamed in the release of their power at the same time. Their bodies became pure light and grew many, many times their former sizes. They lengthened and widened forming an entirely new shape. When the light vanished two giant dogs stood in their place. The black one growled deeply causing the ground to shake violently. The silver one howled causing the remainder of the demon horde and the priests to fall to the ground. The black one joined in causing all remaining enemies on the field to explode where they had fallen. The high priest had managed to survive somehow, having protected himself with wards. He stood before the two great dogs in sheer horror and tried futiley to attack them. The silver one knocked him into the air with a mighty swipe of his paw, landing the priest in his mouth and ripping him to shreds. The left over bloody lumps fell to the ground in a heap before Vierna, Drizzt and Artemis.

The light returned and wrapped around the great dogs once more and they reverted back into their familiar shapes. Nira fell to the ground, unable to stand after losing so much energy from the useless transformation. Shiara managed to stay on his feet and turned to Vierna. she looked at him in horror as the priests blood dripped out of his mouth. He saw her staring and wiped it away and tried to find a way to explain himself.

Vierna shook more violently as he came closer. Shiara managed to get about a foot away from her. "You're one of them." she said in a fearful whisper. Then she slapped him and ran away.


	23. Chapter 22: More And More Questions

A/N: Do forgive me for taking so long to update. You know I love you. Now please don't kill me. You can hit me over the head with a blunt object if you so choose but please don't kill me. Now then, let us get on to the story shall we?

Disclaimer: Drizzt and Co. belong to R.. Kagome and anyone from Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. I do not own them no matter how much I would like to and I have no intentions of stealing them. Anyone else is most likely mine unless otherwise claimed. Differentiations have and will continue to be made by me so please don't sue me.

I believe I left you on the edge of a cliff.

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Chapter 22: More And More Questions

Shiara fell to the ground. Not just from the overuse of his power, but in defeat as well. He knew he should have told Vierna about his true nature before but feared that she would not go with him. He was still at a loss as to why he had taken her in the first place. And now she had run away. Just as he had feared.

"Kagome," he called softly. The young woman came to stand by him, leaving her brother to tend to Nira. "You must go after her. This battle is not over yet." Kagome nodded and walked away in the direction Vierna had run. She couldn't sense anything at the moment but knew well enough that if Shiara said that the battle wasn't over, then it wasn't over. She turned slightly to face the others and motioned for Drizzt and Entreri to follow. Both males did so silently, understanding that they would have more of a chance convincing Vierna to come back.

Together the three friends searched the forest for the drow woman. Not long into their search a strong feeling of dread washed over them. None of the them could figure out where it came from but had the feeling it had to do with Shiara's proclamation that the battle wasn't over.

Kagome picked up on Vierna's aura not long after. She sensed that the drow woman was still running away blindly, though she remained unharmed. The sense that there was something horribly wrong continued to grow stronger. It was as if there was something around them that they could not see. Testing this theory, Kagome tapped into Kaga-to's power. The sword revealed nothing other than a few netherworld denizens coming to crawl about the carcasses of the slain demons back in the field. Kagome still didn't relax, just because the sword hadn't picked anything up didn't mean that nothing was there.

A terrified scream broke the uneasy silence. Followed by an angry male voice.

"You will be given to my master!" The man screamed. It sounded like another one of Zakhra's priests. Radiant Death pulsed a warning. There was much more than a priest, something she couldn't see.

The sound of something being slammed into a tree resounded through the area around them followed by another scream. They ran faster to rescue Vierna who was now lying sprawled on the ground.

"It is a pity I have been instructed not to spill a drop of your blood." the priest sneered. "It would bring me such pleasure." He ran a cold hand across her smooth face. Vierna did well not to flinch. Instead she steeled her gaze and did her best not to betray the young woman stealthily approaching the priest from behind. The priest let out another evil laugh. "Don't waste your time, girl. I know you're there. Attack! Get them now!" The wind picked up around the priest. Something attacked Kagome but she could not tell where it was.

Drizzt and Entreri were attacked at the same time, although Entreri could see their attackers. To him they looked like giant horned snakes. Only they had a single pair of legs at the front end of their serpentine bodies. One opened its mouth wide to gouge at them, me managed to push Drizzt out of the way. The drow ranger fell to the ground confused as to why his friend had thrown him down. He could not see the assailants. Entreri managed to get away from a few more attacks, however he soon lost his balance and was struck solidly in the torso. His blood spilled out in front of him and he watched in horror as it dripped out of the monster's mouth. The monsters rallied and prepared to strike him again.

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All the way across the forest Nira's eyes opened wide. He sat up quickly, ignoring his wounds. He jumped to his feet and was gone before the other two could even fully register that he had moved. He didn't care that he was still bleeding or that he was still in a massive amount of pain. He could smell Artemis' blood. His son as in trouble and needed his help.

Nira fiercely flexed his hand and arrived just in time to bring down the group of demons about to harm his son. His claws slashed mercilessly through them and their bodies fell in pieces to the ground with loud thuds. Growling, he turned to the priest controlling them. Shiara he noticed was now behind the tree the priest stood in front of.

The priest was trying hard not to scream into the red eyed face of his master's former prisoner. "So _you _are here!" he snarled. "A pity the others failed to kill you. I shall enjoy doing it myself!" The priest commanded more of his demons to attack and kill the already wounded demon. He laughed wildly as he flung Vierna up from the ground. He didn't make it far before his head was completely severed from his body by Shiara's sword and rolled across the forest floor.

Vierna fell unceremoniously to the grass as well, the rest of the body landing in a heap next to her. She quickly regained her footing and turned to see who had saved her. Upon seeing Shiara she took an involuntary step back, almost bowling Drizzt over as he had placed himself behind his sister to keep her from running away again. He held her steady as she locked her gaze into Shiara's. She could tell that he wanted to tell her something, explain himself perhaps. But that would have to wait.

Nira, already seriously injured fell for the second time that night. He had ignored his pain completely while running to save Artemis and now he was feeling the effect of his over exertions. His face became a grimmace as Artemis tried to get him on his feet again. Finally his son settled on carrying him back to their camping spot. When they made it back Entreri gently set Nira on the ground and started to see to his wounds. Amon had remained behind through the ordeal and was ready to begin tending to them. The assassin would not allow himself to be moved until he had fully cleaned and dressed Nira's wounds. He knew the would across his abdomen could get infected but chose to ignore his pain as Nira had obviously done while coming to his aid. His father managed to open his eyes a bit and offered him a small smile in an effort to tell him that he would be fine. When that didn't seem to work, Nira brought up one of his hands and gently scratched Artemis behind an ear.

Entreri took the hint and let Kagome remove his armor to take care of his injury. Her hand glowed briefly over his wound and then the pain was gone. He looked down at himself to see the wound had vanished as though it had never been there in the first place. She next turned her attention to Drizzt, who managed to get through with only a few minor scratches. Satisfied with their wellbeing she moved off to check on Shiara, who waved her off saying that he was fine and she should get to working on Nira. Vierna, likewise said she wasn't hurt terribly and could manage herself but thanked Kagome for the offer anyway. The young woman returned to the others.

Nira didn't look so good, but he was faring better than she thought he had been. Kagome quietly concentrated her healing powers into her hand. It glowed the soft blue white again. Then her energy began to spark dangerously. Nira hissed in pain. What ever spell the high priest had used on him was reacting badly with her healing power. Kagome withdrew her hand as soon as the energy began to hurt the demon. "I guess you'll have to heal on you own." she said to him softly. "You're getting better all ready so I don't think it'll be too long." Nira nodded and then fell asleep. His hand reached out in another comfort gesture to Artemis who was still sitting next to him. Still somehow mindful of his claws, Nira set his hand on Artemis'.

Kagome gave him a gentle smile. "Don't worry, he'll be alright. He just needs to rest." She gave his shoulder a little squeeze before walking off to keep watch for the night. She noticed with more than a little interest that Vierna and Shiara had gone off together.

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Shiara sat down at the base of a tree and bade Vierna to join him. She did, albeit reluctantly.

They sat in silence. Shiara trying to find something to say and Vierna not knowing how to respond to him. He knew that she was still shaken from earlier and he was still berating himself for not telling her that he was a demon in the first place. He shifted his gaze in her direction, she wasn't looking at him at the moment. Shiara reminded himself that he was lucky that she had even gone with him in the first place. While he wouldn't have blamed her if she had refused, he knew that he would have been extremely hurt if she had.

Without fully realizing what he was doing, Shiara reached his hand out to touch her face. Vierna jumped a little but did not remove his hand or otherwise reject him. She chewed on her lip as he gently turned her head to face him. His hand cupped her cheek and lifted her gaze to meet his eyes.

"I guess I should have told you before." Shiara began not really knowing how to continue. "I just- I just thought you wouldn't want to be around me. I...I needed you to willingly stay with me because it didn't seem right to me to kill you or leave you there. And I know I should have told you at some point but I was afraid you would leave. I- I...I don't know...And then when I kissed you I-"

Vierna cut him off abruptly with her fingertips on his lips. She still didn't say anything to him as he stared intently into her eyes. The silence was becoming extremely awkward. "I knew you were different before, I just didn't know how. I haven't exactly been completely honest with you either."

Shiara gave her an uncomfortable smile. "Like about how you were dead before? I knew about that before Kagome came here looking for you."

The drow woman blinked in amazement. "You did?" How could he have known? She knew there was nothing in her scent that would have given it away. And besides that she had thought he was an elf before so that thought really shouldn't have occurred to her. Had he learned it somehow without her knowing?

"I found out when we were in Silverymoon. After I put you to sleep I asked Alustriel about it." He let out a strained chuckle. "I guess that brings us back to the original problem." he continued. "I should have told you before."

"Why did you keep putting me to sleep?" Vierna asked hesitantly. She figured that she already knew the answer. He knew it too, but he answered anyway.

"If I hadn't you would have found out about me. I was afraid you would leave."

"What did you do to get there so fast then if I was asleep?" She had been wanting to know about their rapid traveling for a while.

"Demons are possessed of many different and powerful abilities. One of those is the ability to run at extremely high speeds. Most of the time after I put you to sleep it was because I had to run."

"But after we got that jewel you didn't put me to sleep anymore. You didn't run."

"I couldn't mask our scents, keep you asleep, run and hide the jewel's presence at the same time." Shiara explained, "I was getting to be too much. I stopped running and keeping you asleep to reserve my power for keeping the jewel hidden. If I hadn't, getting to Memnon would have been much more difficult."

"You said before that people and demons wanted the jewel. Why?"

"It's very powerful. Many have died trying to take it and so they will continue until it is destroyed. It has the ability to greatly amplify one's power, but those with tainted souls often lose themselves to the jewel. Their ambition destroys them and they usually die violently. I've heard it told that the jewel grows more beautiful depending on how tainted the holder's soul is. As of yet, Kagome is the only person I know of who has been able to keep it completely pure."

"It remains pure in her possession because she has no desire to raise herself above others?" Vierna asked.

"All she has ever wanted to do is help people. Not many can say that."

"What about when we were in Memnon, did you know what was really going on with the others?"

"That, " Shiara stated, "doesn't really have to do with me being a demon." He pulled up on one of his necklace chains revealing an amulet she had previously believed to be inert. "This amulet connects me to the twins. I picked up Hitori's scent when we were in the room and it surprised me. I could tell from his scent that he had been a female but had changed back into a male and was upset when he left. I linked into Kagome's mind through her own amulet and saw that she and the others were going to rescue Hitori."

"You told me we would go help them if there was something wrong." Vierna accused.

Shiara didn't disagree. "But I knew that they would not need us. And I was right, wasn't I?"

He had her there. "Why did you kiss me?" she asked wanting to change the subject. His head cocked to one side.

"The first time or earlier today?" he replied teasingly.

"You know what I meant." she huffed. "Why did you do it the first time?"

"I don't know." was his simple reply.

Vierna huffed again and painted a pouty expression on her face. To Shiara she looked almost childish and it made him smile. "Fine then." she continued. "Why did you kiss me earlier?"

"Because I wanted to." he stated. "And need I remind you, you kissed me back."

She laughed at that. "I did, but then what was the 'Later perhaps' about?" Shiara leaned forward and his lips brushed hers slightly. He left her plenty of opportunity to back away from him but she stayed put. Vierna opened her mouth a little and let his breath dance across her lips.

"I think you know." he whispered huskily. "But you want to know something else?"

"What's that?" her voice was now no louder than his.

"I want to kiss you again."

Shiara pulled her closer, closing the distance between them. Their lips met just as hungrily as they had previously that evening. His nose twitched slightly as the scent of her spiked arousal reached it. Vierna really had no idea how intoxicating she was to him. Vierna noticed for the first time that his shirt was undone, slowly she slid her hand under it caressing the perfectly smooth skin of his chest and abdomen. His strong hand gently tugged on the front of her robe, pulling it loose and his hand slipped inside to softly squeeze one of her breasts.

He broke away from her after a few moments of the intense foreplay. "Do you want this?" he gasped. He could feel himself straining in his pants but he would force himself down if she didn't want him. Her only reply was to pull him down atop herself and wrap her arms around him again. Still unsure he pulled away again. "Are you sure?" She silenced him completely with another kiss.

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On the side of the field opposite the forest another group was resting for the night. They had seen the demon horde but by the time they arrived it had been destroyed. They had also decided to hold back because of the two extremely strong demonic auras that had appeared out of nowhere. Their arrival had definitely been the cause of the horde's destruction.

"This is absolutely amazing." The purple robed monk exclaimed in awe. "I don't think I have ever seen anything like this, aside from Sesshoumaru that is. There is something else here though that does not feel like demon energy and I think it is what caused most of the damage to the demons."

Not too far off Miroku could see a campfire glowing in the distance. Maybe whoever it was had had something to do with it.

"I agree. I don't think it was those two demons that did all of this. Something about this other power feels familiar somehow." Sango said back to him as she reached his side.

"I agree." Shippo stated as he hopped up onto the demon slayer's shoulder. "Can't you tell what it is Miroku?"

"I don't know yet Shippo. But I do agree with the two of you. It feels familiar, I just can't seem to place it." The monk shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose we will find out soon enough."

"Should we go check it out?" Sango asked.

"In the morning." Miroku agreed. "But for now, let us rest. It wont do us any good to face whatever this mysterious power is tired." The demon slayer and the kitsune both nodded evenly and bedded down for the rest of the night.

They left as soon as the sun was in its early morning rise. They could see the smoke from the fire of the previous night and there came a slight smell of cooking food. The three friends hopped up onto Kirara's back and flew off in the direction of the fire. As soon as they were over head Sango told the two-tailed cat to land. What they saw surprised them.

They noticed the dark skinned one first and his pale, now demon friend. Another demon lay asleep on the ground recovering from several vicious wounds. And next to him with a bowl of cold water was Kagome, dressed in the same strange clothes she had been wearing the last time they had seen her. She was just as surprised to see them as they were to see her. Her face quickly recovered into a smile and she greeted them warmly. They could tell that she was hiding something though, but they chose not to press her.

Miroku inquired about the events of the night. Kagome told him that she and her new friends had indeed partaken in the battle. The wounded demon was one of the massive powers they had felt and the other one was around somewhere. When he asked about the other power, Miroku noticed that Kagome was slightly hesitant to answer him. After a moment she confessed that the other power they had sensed had most likely been her which explained a lot to them but still raised many, many more questions.

They left shortly after mid-morning, each of the three friends wondering what had happened to Kagome that changed her so much. Or had she always been like that? They had sensed some changes after the defeat of Naraku. But now...There was much more that was different. She was much more powerful than before that was for sure. Her clothes were different and she carried swords instead of a bow and arrows. It didn't look like she was using priestess abilities either, this power was much more raw and intense but still under control. The three friends asked themselves again if she had always been the way she was now. But they couldn't bring themselves to believe that she would hide something like that from them.

There were just too many questions. All three knew however that they would not abandon her. They would not be like Inuyasha who was still bent on killing her even though she had brought Kikyo back to life. That could have just been from the fact that she had sealed him to a tree with a sacred arrow like Kikyo had done to him before. Kikyo herself wanted to repay Kagome for what she had done. Inuyasha didn't seem to understand that. Still, regardless of the half demon, they would not leave her. It became a silent vow between them that they would keep her presence unknown to Inuyasha.

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Vierna and Shiara woke just after sunrise and in each other's. Both of them happily replayed the nights events in their minds.

He nuzzled into her neck and she gave him a playful shove on the arm. He licked her cheek teasingly and she let out a small giggle.

"Did you enjoy that?" he asked her softly. She cuddled closer to his body and he felt her smile into his chest. He kissed her gently on her hairline. "We should probably get dressed now. They others will start looking for us soon if we don't make an appearance."

They shared a laugh and quickly got dressed. Then they went back to join the others as though nothing had happened between them though the others were fairly sure of what had transpired.

Kagome, Drizzt, Artemis and Nira all left shortly after noon. Shiara had given Artemis the advice that he should lick his father's wounds if he wanted them to heal faster. Kagome in turn assured him that the advice was sound and helped the assassin lift Nira onto her feather. Together the four flew off back in the direction of the temple.

Kagome was disappointed that Shiara and Vierna had declined coming with her but knew that they would fare well enough on their own and with Amon around. When she got back to the temple she would have to tell Nagaira about her brother staying behind, the fact would relieve him greatly she was sure. Meanwhile, she had other things to attend.


	24. Chapter 23: Wounds of Bleeding Hearts

A/N: Yay another chapter!!! I am determined to get through this soon. In the next few chapters I'm going to pick up the pace and actually accomplish one or two of the bigger things in this story. Believe me I'm kicking myself here. Look out for Drizzt/Artemis slash, Drizzt/Kagome relations and of course the death of Zakhra. In one of the last chapters I mentioned something about the twins learning something they could use against him that should also make an appearance. And let's not forget the ring Kitana stole from the noble guy in another one of the earlier chapters. Plus, since I am so nice, Inuyasha is bound to make an appearance as well.

Disclaimer: I do not own Drizzt and Co. They belong to R.A. Salvatore. Kagome and anyone from Inuyasha belong to Rumiko Takahashi. Everyone else is most likely mine unless you recognize them from some other place. I claim all of my original characters, the storyline for this work including all of my spelling errors. I also do not own any of the Forgotten Realms lands or Japan, just what people are doing in them.

WARNING: If you have not read the A/N please do, it's actually important this time.

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Chapter Twenty-three: The Wounds of Bleeding Hearts

The temple was dark when they finally returned. Kagome knew that Yuri would not be pleased when she learned that Shiara and Vierna had not returned with her. Jarlaxle and Kimmuriel would most likely start pestering them about where they had gone when they learned that they were back. It was not enough to say that no one was in the mood for such a meeting. Nira's wounds needed to be tended to quickly and now that Zakhra knew of Vierna's location they would be even more hard pressed to find him.

Kagome led the way to Nira's room followed by Artemis who still carried him. Nira was asleep again and remained unable to stand for long on his own. Artemis set Nira down on his bed and looked to Kagome for some advice. He really didn't understand why his father wasn't healing. He knew that Nira had been seriously injured before and had healed just fine. What ever that light had been that had forced him to transform also slashed him deeply and did something to make him not heal as fast. Kagome's magic couldn't do anything to stop it, it just made it worse. Would have, Artemis reminded himself. Kagome stopped her magic before she could hurt him.

"I'll bring in some healing supplies." Kagome answered his gaze. "You really should try licking his wounds, it'll help."

"How will licking wounds help?" Artemis asked doubting the method. Would licking the wounds just cause them to get infected?

"It's different for demons than it is for other races. It's just like animals licking each others wounds." Kagome replied understanding where he was coming from. He still had a lot to learn. Kagome made a mental note to go find Lord Inutaisho and introduce the two. Inutaisho would be more than happy to assist them. She left the room leaving Artemis to ponder the new information.

Kagome walked stealthily through the temple to find some healing supplies specifically used for demons. Hopefully there was one that could remove the effects of the forced transformation spell. Nira was still on the young side for demons, the spell had hurt him more than it had hurt Shiara who had managed to recover quickly. It also didn't help that that was the first time in a long time that Nira had changed into his full demon form. The act took massive amounts of energy and would also slow the healing process. She found what she was looking for after about ten minutes of searching. The blue bottle glowed with a strong aura but that didn't stop her from grabbing it. She had used this stuff before on Sesshoumaru and it had worked to perfection. Instead of traditional healing powers it was filled with the healing powers of dark priests. The negative energy was negated when it entered the wounds inflicted by it. The basic concept being, to heal one must use one's own or one's enemy. Nira was a good demon but he was still a demon and the mix in the bottle would still theoretically help him.

She returned to Nira's room to find Artemis sitting in the exact same spot as when she left him. "This should help him." Kagome said to him as she closed the door behind herself. He nodded and moved away to make room for her. "Nira?" she whispered and the demon stirred. "I have some Dark Heal here. I want to see if it'll work on you since my powers wont." Nira gave an almost imperceptible nod and Kagome took the stopper out of the bottle.

There wasn't much of the dark liquid left inside, but it was enough. Carefully Kagome poured it into a small cup and motioned for Artemis to sit Nira up. She eased the disgusting looking stuff down Nira's throat as gently as she could, to his credit Nira only sputtered once. As the potion spread through his system his wounds glowed with the same aura as the bottle previously had. The wounds started to close right before their eyes and Kagome let out an audible sigh of relief. Artemis watched in shocked amazement as the last of the wounds vanished.

"What was that stuff?" he asked.

"It's called Dark Heal." Kagome explained. "My powers wouldn't work on him and hurt him because that was the nature of the spell that was used on him. I thought I would try this stuff instead because it's make of the same powers as the spell."

"Wouldn't that have hurt him more?"

"Think of it this way, have you ever stabbed something undead with your dagger?" Artemis nodded and she continued. "Did you try to take its life force?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Why would I want to do that? They're already dead there would be nothing to take."

"Exactly. The dagger would have turned its draining abilities on you and transferred them into the undead thing. That's why the best thing to use on something undead or of strong demonic power is something purified, it hurts them."

"So if a priest were to cast a healing spell on a lich it would kill it?" He shook his head in disbelief as she nodded. Why hadn't he known about these things before? He thought back to the time when he and Jarlaxle had gone to the lich's tower in Heliogabalus and when they battled the dracolich in Palishchuk. It would have been far easier dealing with them had he known about this. Damn Jarlaxle, he probably knew all along, the bastard...

Kagome turned to leave the room when he stopped her. "I've killed priests with my dagger before, how come it worked on them? You just said that undead things would be destroyed by priests, my dagger is vampiric."

"You dagger isn't a normal vampiric weapon. It would take a really powerful priest to destroy it. When you kill the pure energy isn't directed specifically at the dagger so it wouldn't be destroyed that way it would just give it to you."

"What if I used it on one of those dark priests?"

"The effect would be the same."

Artemis nodded and let her go. He then turned back to Nira who was now breathing normal. 'Another day or two and he should be fine' he thought to himself. He still couldn't understand why he had gotten so attached to Nira in such a short time. They had only met about three months ago. It was hard to believe that it had gone by so fast. For some odd reason Artemis felt the urge to wake his father and ask him about his mother. Instead he contented himself with sitting back down and getting some sleep himself. Some part of his wished that Drizzt was there with him.

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Kagome sat down in her own room's floor once again staring at Radiant Death. "Is that what you were trying to tell me?" she whispered to the sword. "Use one's own to heal or use one's enemy. You showed me Zakhra being hurt by the healing powers of his priests. Are you saying that I should kill him like I would a vampire?" The sword pulsed in her light handed grip. "Is there more to it than that?"

The sword pulsed again but she could not find a definite answer in its actions. It understood her confusion it seemed and it sent a picture of the Charon's Claw into her mind. "But what does it mean?" she pleaded with her weapon. "I don't understand what you're trying to tell me." Radiant Death grew comfortingly warm in her hand. It lulled her to sleep on the floor promising that all would be well.

'I don't understand' she thought to it.

_'You will...'_

When she woke it was still early in the morning. She got up not bothering to change her clothes and walked to Nira's room. She found both father and son awake when she burst through the door. "Nira, I have a question for you."

The latter nodded and bade her to sit down where she pleased.

Kagome swallowed hard. "I need to know about Shanali." Nira's eyes widened in shock. "I know this is unexpected and probably uncalled for but I need you to tell me everything you can. I think I might know how to kill Zakhra and this has to do with it.

"What do you need to know?" Nira asked quietly.

"Everything you can." she repeated. "I need to know where she got the Charon's Claw, how she controlled it and how she used it." Kagome paused and took a deep breath. "And...I need to know about the night she was turned into a human. She managed to hit him with the Charon's Claw then and the wound is still hurting him." She lifted her gaze to meet his. His eyes were glazed over with sadness. "I know that's a lot to ask for and I'm sorry I'm asking for it. But I really think it'll help. Please Nira."

"I don't know how she acquired the Charon's Claw. She had it with her when we first met and I never thought to ask her about it. I only knew the things I heard about it at that point. I know she could easily bend the sword to her will, Artemis controls it the same way now. You would be better off asking him about that. As for her using it, she used it like you use your own swords." Nira answered slowly. He took a deep breath and began to tell them the whole story.

"I have told you before that we were sent to Memnon to take care of the priests in the temple. Shanali was angry with the situation from the moment she learned about it. We left right after the case was explained to us and we were given our orders. The priest were to be killed if they could not be forced to stop their evil ways. I'm not exactly sure where the order came from but it seemed reasonable to us.

"We got to Memnon about four days after we left. We had run the entire way from Waterdeep which is where we were at the time. We decided to go in together, we would have had more of an influence that way. I know that they did not learn of our presence outside the temple, we had taken great precautions to keep ourselves secret. We were able to scout the entire temple without being seen. When we actually entered is another story. I think they were alerted to out presence beforehand once we went through the main door. They were waiting for us in the Blessed House Proper. Zakhra was there with the priests and he commanded them to attack us.

"I was hit with a bolt covered in demon's bane almost right off. I had never been exposed to it before so Shanali was left to fight alone. She cut through the priest easy enough. The Charon's Claw burned right through a few of them. I don't know why it was such a problem to Zakhra but he wanted it taken care of. At first I thought he wanted it for himself but later I found out that he had given it to one of his followers in Calimport. I saw Shanali hit his arm with it before he took it from her. He used the gauntlet to get it. Since I never saw him with either after he imprisoned me I am assuming that he couldn't use the sword so he had no need for the gauntlet anymore. I never saw what happened to his arm after I was dragged away. That's really all I can tell you."

Nira sat back on his pillows. His eyes remained sad, no doubt he had been reliving the event as he was telling it.

"Thank you Nira. I'm sorry I made you tell me."

Nira shook his head. "It's alright Kagome. If it does anything to help then it's worth it."

"Okay, well. That's one less thing. Artemis how did you get the Charon's Claw?"

"I got it from Kohrin Soulez. I had been wanting the sword since I was a child but this time I got it. At that time Jarlaxle was under the control of the crystal shard and he needed a place to build a tower for it. I told him about Dallabad Oasis so I could get into the fortress. I ended up battling Soulez and I cut the real gauntlet off his hand and tossed him a fake one. He grabbed the sword and died I put the real gauntlet on and took it."

"And what exactly can it do?" Kagome asked.

"So far I've found that it can produce a black light that can hide the wielder from infravision. If someone gets cut from it the wound will fester and rot until the person looses a limb or they die. And I can make a wall of ash come out from the blade, that's all I've learned so far."

"Can anyone use it?" Kagome continued hesitantly. She really had no idea where this was going.

"I suppose if they had enough will power. Why?"

"I don't know. I'm trying to figure something out. Thanks guys." Kagome said as she left the room.

Nira and Artemis looked at each other in confusion. "Well that was strange." Nira stated. Artemis agreed.

Kagome returned silently to her room once again. "What are you trying to tell me?" she asked Radiant Death. The sword quivered innocently in its sheath. Trying to tell her not to worry so much.

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Later that afternoon Drizzt and Entreri were in the garden together with Jarlaxle and Kimmuriel. The four were discussing their plan of action for any upcoming battle. It was agreed between all of them that they needed to get practice fighting demons. They needed someone to help them with that but Kagome was currently unavailable. The young woman had locked herself in her room again and had not been seen since that morning by Entreri. Even Hitori had not seen her.

"What should we do?" Drizzt asked his companions. He knew he was not the only one worried about her. "She's acting so strange."

"She said something this morning about having found a way to kill the demon she's after." Entreri explained. "What I don't understand is why she needed to ask Nira and I about the Charon's Claw. What could my sword have to do with anything?"

"Didn't Nira say that it was your mother's and she injured the demon with it?" Jarlaxle asked earning a nod from the assassin.

"But she was asking me if anyone could use it."

"Do you think she was really asking if _she_ could use it?" the mercenary leader pressed. His question brought on another nod.

"I think so. But why would she _want_ to use it?"

All four drew a blank for the question. Why indeed?

"Perhaps there is more to this than we are seeing." Kimmuriel voiced his thought aloud. "Hitori told me that she sees things. Maybe this is one of them. Of course it could be her sword, that's been acting strange too."

"What do you mean?" Drizzt asked.

"Its energy is different from when we first met her. It feels like it is feeding off of something. I can feel it talking to it more too, and I have heard her talking back to it. Maybe she is gaining some kind of knowledge."

They all let the idea sink in for a moment. What Kimmuriel said made sense. But then why hadn't she told them? Didn't she trust them? Drizzt let out a sigh. "At any rate we wont know anything until she tells us. Remember? Hitori told us before not to press her."

"She'll tell us when she's ready." Entreri added.

"Yes, but what do we do now?" Jarlaxle mused.

"How about," a strong male voice chimed in. "You tell me where she's hiding and you wont get hurt." All four looked up to see the half demon Kagome had fought before. Only now he was speaking in the common tongue. His eyes narrowed dangerously and he bared his fangs. "Well?" he demanded. "Where is she?"

"Why would we tell you?" Entreri sneered back. "We watched you try to kill her."

"Yeah well, the little bitch deserved it didn't she?" the half demon growled. "Where is she?"

"Inuyasha." A too calm voice interrupted them. The half demon looked away from the four companions only to see the one he had been demanding. Her eyes were cold and distant. He would not admit it but she was sending almost unearthly shivers down his spine. He was afraid. "What do you think you're doing Inuyasha?" she asked still using that deathly calm tone.

"Lookin' for you, you little whore. You call me here and the first thing I see is a bunch of guys with your scent all over them. You're the one who called me here Kagome, what the hell do you want?"

"Inuyasha?" Her voice sent more shivers down his spine. He knew this particular tone all too well. "Sit." The half demon promptly crashed to the ground in an extremely large crater. Her tone had not given it away but the effect of the subdue had, Kagome was extremely angry with him. She calmly walked over to the hole and pulled him up with one hand. "Inuyasha, you will not speak to me like that. Do you understand? We no longer have a reason to be enemies. I gave you back Kikyo and prevented her from taking you to hell. And if you ever talk to my friends like that again I will not hesitate to hurt you. I'm done Inuyasha. I called you here because I was hoping to make use of you."

The half demon nodded weakly in her grasp and she set him down. "What do you want me for?" he asked defeated.

"I need you here to help guard the city. That should be easy enough with the Tetsuiga. A large horde of demons is headed this way and I am not going to be here to face them. You're the only one who has a weapon capable of quickly ending the battle before too much damage is done."

"Wha.." Inuyasha blinked in surprise. "Where are you going to be?"

Kagome tilted her head to the side but still managed to meet his gaze. "I'm going after their leader." she stated coldly. "Go to the main gate and tell the guards that I sent you there to help. They should listen to you. Give them this if they don't." she handed him a letter and walked off leaving the rest in the garden sorely confused. Still the others couldn't help but smile at the way she had handled the half demon. The look on his face was absolutely priceless.

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It had been obvious to Drizzt that Kagome had gone back to her room. Where else would she have gone to? He found her sitting on her bed lost in thought and taing at her floor. She looked up briefly when he closed the door and then back down as he came closer. Gently he tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, when she didn't look at him he sat down next to her. "What's with you?" he asked softly. "You're not yourself."

"This stuff is just getting to me." she replied to her floor.

"Kagome, please look at me." the drow ranger pleaded. She did look at him then, mindful of his desperate tone.

"I'm sorry." she whispered. "I don't mean to be like this." Kagome gently tugged on his sleeve and pulled him into a kiss. For some odd reason this one felt far different than any other they had shared. Drizzt found himself getting easily aroused by this kiss. Kagome pulled them both to the bed. He positioned himself on top of her and noticed that she was wearing only a thin sleeping kimono.

"What's wrong?" he asked not knowing what to make of the change on situation. Her mouth came up to silence him and he was beginning to have a much harder time holding himself back. He managed to force himself off of her again. "What's wrong Kagome?" he gasped.

"Please Drizzt...At least one time in case I don't come back." she whispered. Looking into her eyes he could tell that she really wanted this. She had resolved to be selfish for once in her life. Drizzt felt himself admiring her even more and his desire for her became even stronger. How long had he been waiting for this? Not just from her, but from the lying Catti-brie before her. But Kagome honestly loved him, would doing this now be wrong?

Her hand cupped his face and she forced him to look at her. "Don't worry. I know I want this now, you're not going to hurt me. Please Drizzt, just one time in case I don't come back. I want to know..." She chewed her bottom lip not knowing how to continue.

"You're really sure?" Drizzt asked running a hand through his thick white hair. She nodded and he leaned over on top of her again, the snowy locks cascading off of his shoulder and forming a curtain around her face. He brought his mouth down to kiss her neck. "I love you." he whispered and his hands sought to prove it. He hastily removed her robe which turned out to be the only thing she had been wearing. He kissed her fingertips before they deftly undid all of his buttons.

Over eager she used her magic to rid him of his clothes completely.

Deciding to start out slow, Drizzt stuck a finger into his mouth before slipping it into her soft folds. Her muscles tightened around his finger and she writhed in pleasure. He teased her insides with one finger for a few minutes and then added a second one into the increasing wetness. The ranger placed himself further between her legs and curiously licked the soft bud at the top of her folds. Her hips bucked at the sensation and he licked her there again. Liking the entirety of what he was tasting he began to explore her with his tongue. She moaned softly causing him to stiffen even more.

Slowly he began to leave a trail of soft kisses up one of her legs, He licked her little bud teasingly once more before continuing to kiss his way up her belly. He thrust his fingers in and out a few more times before removing them to run them up the side of her torso and then back down to firmly grasp her leg. His hard length poked her other one eagerly waiting to be sheathed inside her. His mouth hungrily found one of her erect nipples and encased it gently at first then he began to suck it harder at one point stopping to nip at it. His free hand caressed her other breast fondly. Kagome's legs spread wider underneath him as she silently begged him to stop his teasing and enter her.

Drizzt took the hint and slowly began to slip himself inside of her. Her muscles gripped him so tightly it was almost painful. He could feel her body resisting ever inch of his hardness. By the time he got the head fully in he felt like he was going to explode. He held himself back from his orgasm as he pushed himself deeper inside her. He found her hymen and broke it as gently as he could. She whimpered slightly but the pain was quickly lost within his gentle thrusts. He let out a deep moan when Kagome began to press down on his lower back causing him to go faster. He let out another as she began to meet him thrust for thrust.

Their breathing rates increased as they each grew closer to their climax. Drizzt thrust into her as hard as he could and she wrapped her legs around his waist keeping him mostly inside herself. He came hard into her as he thrust one last time, her mewling cry telling him that she was enjoying this just as much as he was. He fell on top of her breathing hard and let himself lie still on top her not bothering to pull out just yet. He could tell that she still wanted to feel him inside her. At the moment he was more than willing to comply. Once their breathing calmed down he slowly removed himself from her folds, stifling a moan as he came again. He collapsed onto the bed next to her.

He draped an arm over her trembling body and pulled her close to him. "I love you." he whispered and he kissed her on the soft spot behind her ear. She wrapped an arm around him and they fell asleep.

They both woke shortly after midnight. Kagome informed Drizzt that it was probably a good idea for him to leave her room for the rest of the night. The drow ranger was reluctant to leave but he simply nodded his answer and left the room as she had requested. Without realizing it he ended up at Artemis' door. He didn't knock before he stepped in, his friend was still awake inside. Artemis looked up at him and Drizzt nodded his answer to the unspoken question. Artemis wrapped his arms around the drow and kissed him on the lips.

"She'll come back." the assassin whispered.

"How do you know?" the ranger replied doubtfully.

"If she knew she was going to die she wouldn't have slept with you."

Artemis led Drizzt to his bed and held the drow as he fell asleep. The assassin himself would remain awake for several more hours. He noticed a small form in his window about an hour after Drizzt had fallen asleep. A soft grey eyed gaze questioned him. He nodded once and she was gone into the night. He would tell the others in the morning.


	25. Chapter 24: Missing

A/N: Woo!! See I told you I would get a few of those things out of the way. I don't think that the lemon was all of what it could be but it works. I hope you enjoyed it and the Inu bashing. The idea of an ass-kicking Kagome it so awesome. Girls should be able to stand up for themselves after all. And Kagome now has an idea for killing Zakhra. Talk about a nice day. You'll see that in this chapter too, we'll get to the thing about the ring soon and keep your eyes wide (not too wide you'll get a bug) open for Drizzt/Artemis goodness.

Disclaimer: I do not own Drizzt or any of Mr. Salvatore's characters they belong to him. Kagome and anyone from Inuyasha belong to Rumiko Takahashi. Anyone else is most likely mine unless otherwise claimed. I have no intentions to steal any characters that are not mine and I don't have a penny to my name so please don't sue me.

Violence! Yay violence!!

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Chapter Twenty-four: Missing

_Everyone,_

_I'm sorry I left without telling any of you. I know by now you must all be terribly worried about me. I know it must not seem wise to any of you that I left alone, truth be told I don't like the idea much either but I fear it is the only way at the moment. This is something I have to do before we face Zakhra, I'm sure now that I know how to defeat him and why we could not before. I have something now that I didn't the other times I fought him._

_Artemis, I'm sorry that I took the Charon's Claw. I need it. In case I fail, I have enchanted your sheath to return with the sword to you. The Charon's Claw I have learned, will be crucial to killing Zakhra. Paired with my sword Radiant Death they create a sort of flux in his energy. Shanali hit him with it before he was able to take it from her and the wound has had a still lasting effect. When I attacked him the last time with Radiant Death I sent a form of over pure energy into him, it reacted with the residual energy from the Charon's Claw giving the spell a vampiric property. I think that is why I healed so fast and he still grows weaker. Radiant Death is absorbing his power I think, and giving me access to his mind. I intend to use this against him. Radiant Death will neutralize the rest of his power. The Charon's Claw will devour him._

_Nira, I'm sorry I went through your belongings and took some of Shanali's things. I cannot yet fully explain why I did, only that I know I will need them. I enchanted them to come back to you if I can't bring them back myself._

_I wish I knew more about what I'm doing. I feel like someone else is guiding me through this and even though it goes against my better judgment I am going with it. I feel the most guilt for you Drizzt, I know I should not have left you the way I did last night but I felt I had to. If you must know, I am writing this as you are walking down the hall to Artemis. I want you to be happy. I want you to be able to move on without me if I don't come back. Be with him. You two need each other more than I think either of you realize. Remember that I love you. I will always love you. If I hadn't started dreaming about you I don't know what I would have done with myself. I probably wouldn't have even left Shiara's house again. I'm sorry that I've done this to you and I hope that you will forgive me._

_Hitori, you're the best friend anyone could want. You've always been there for me and have never judged me unfairly. I love you. Don't get too mad at me for this okay? I'm sorry if I disappoint you, but you know how I am. I want to see this through to the end and I feel that the end is almost upon us. Zakhra has gone back to his former castle on the eastern side of the main island._

_I know that a letter is a sad way to say good-bye. It's the only thing I could think of doing it though. Please forgive me everyone. I've left you my crystal so you can find me._

_Kagome_

Entreri and Drizzt looked up at exactly the same time completely mortified. Kagome was gone. Entreri had known that already but he had not known that it would be like this. He looked under his bed only to find the Charon's Claw gone as Kagome had mentioned in the letter. He quickly returned to the bed when he heard Drizzt let out a strangled sob. The drow ranger had burst into tears for his missing love. Entreri wrapped his arms tightly around him in an effort of comfort, Drizzt cried heavily into his chest.

"What are we going to do!" Drizzt cried. "We have to go get her!"

Entreri held him tighter to try to get him to calm down. When Drizzt began to cry harder he forced himself on top of the drow and held him still. Drizzt managed to calm himself down but tears still streamed down his face. Artemis gently began to stroke the ranger's cheek. "Calm down, we'll find a way to go after her. But we have to tell the others first. They need to know."

Drizzt nodded dumbly against him. Artemis was right. Artemis was always right. He let himself be lifted by the assassin and together they went to the others.

The others were no happier about her being gone either. though their reactions were not nearly as emotional as Drizzt's, they were upset and demanded that they go after. Shortly after they tracked down Hitori to make him tell them where she was only to have him not know the location of Zakhra's castle.

"But I think I know who does!" the half drow pleaded with his friends. They let go of his hair and waited for him to explain. "Yuri usually keeps records of those things. Kagome has always reported Zakhra's locations after she battled him. I have an idea of the one she mentioned in her letter but Yuri would be the one to know for sure."

They let him go and ran off in search of the elfmaid who was conveniently nowhere to be found within the temple.

"Great!" Drizzt yelled in anger. "Now what are we going to do? Anybody else have a fucking plan!" He let out a feral sounding growl and went about muttering to himself. The remaining companions knew tha they needed to do something to placate him somehow. His anger was well founded but it would not be good for anyone. Entreri once again wrapped the ranger in a tight embrace, Drizzt tried to get away but lost to the assassins new strength.

"We'll either go find Yuri or we'll wait for her to get back. That's all we can do unless someone else knows where to find that castle." Entreri said to him firmly. On cue everyone turned again to Hitori. The half drow merely shrugged. He didn't know anyone else who would know about Zakhra's castle. "Don't worry, we'll find her." Entreri whispered gently into Drizzt's ear. He led the drow away and back to their shared room. Drizzt needed to be away from the others for a little while.

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"I don't care if you haven't fully examined it yet. I need that ring." Kagome calmly said to the demoness.

"Kagome, you know that this is a bad idea. Where are you even getting your information?" Kitana asked with equal calm.

Seemingly a bit deflated Kagome thought it over for a few moments. "I don't entirely know." she confessed. "I just know that it's right. Now please, give me that ring." Kitana reached into her pocket but did not take out the ring in question. Her eyes narrowed for a second but then her expression softened. She had been thinking about giving the ring to Kagome anyway. Kitana withdrew her hand containing the ring and deposited it in Kagome's hand. The young woman placed it in her own pocket.

"Just make sure you at least take a look at it." Kitana suggested. Kagome nodded her agreement. She couldn't be too careful. She left silently without offering a parting word to Kitana. She had work to do.

The Charon's Claw brooded at her hip. It didn't like being at her side. It told her so constantly, she was weak it said. Pathetic in her feelings. She silenced it like she had before. The sword recoiled just as it had every time before. It feared her, that was why it wanted to get away. She reminded it of its former mistress. 'If I remind you of her so much then why don't you like me?' The sword replied with its version of a growl. She was nothing like Shanali it said. Shanali was far better than her. Far stronger. Kagome had heard all of these insults before. She shut them all out completely and the sword gave up.

She ran for miles without stopping. Before she even realized how much time had passd she was at her campsite. Only within twenty miles of Zakhra's castle, she had to be careful while she was so close. She entered the cave she had taken over. It wasn't overly deep, but it was enough to hide what she was doing. Te deep orange glow signaled to her that her work was still in progress. Next came the thick smell of clay. It was working alright. It wasn't something she enjoyed but it as necessary. Not wanting to think about that she took out the ring she had just gotten from Kitana and a few stones in a small leather pouch.

Calmly, Kagome drew a circle around herself and placed a stone in each of the four cardinal directions. She put the ring in the center of the circle and then stepped it out sealing it behind herself. A series of small pulses came from the hole she dug in the far side of the cave. She walked slowly towards it and looked in. The clay sarcophagus pulsed again and flared. It would be done soon, she didn't have much more time to wait. She hoped that the others had gotten the note by now.

Thinking about the others only made her even more upset. She wasn't happy about leaving them the way she did. Kagome took out a small mirror and cast a simple scrying spell to look in on her friends.

None of them were happy that she was gone. She could see that easily from how they were acting. Drizzt was especially angry. Kagome let out a small sigh of dismay, he was only angry because she was gone. He was upset. Entreri was doing the best he could to keep him calm. She watched as the assassin brought the ranger to bed and forced him to go to sleep. Kagome shifted the view to Hitori. He sat at a table in his bedroom drinking his favorite tea. Even through the mirror she could see the tear streaks on his face. She had known that everyone would be upset that she was gone but she had no idea hat it would be like this. A stronger pulse came from the kiln drawing her attention. They were coming at the same rate as a heartbeat.

"Soon." she said to herself.

_"Just a little more time..._" a soft voice came from somewhere in the cave. Kagome remained unstartled. She had been expecting it and took it as a good sign.

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Drizzt woke up after a few hours of the sleep Artemis had forced him to take. The assassin had been right about one thing though, it had helped and he felt much calmer than he had before. He felt the warm body of the assassin behind him as was their usual arrangement. Drizzt was somewhat surprised that Artemis was still sleeping, normally he was the one to wake first. When had he fallen asleep?

As if sensing the thought question, Artemis opened one eye then yawned profoundly. "Are you feeling any better?" he asked. Drizzt rolled over to be face to face with him then gently slipped his arms around the man's body. Artemis could tell that Drizzt was enjoying the shared warmth more than usual.

"How come you always ask me that?" Drizzt asked as he brushed his lips against Artemis' throat. He felt himself shiver, suddenly he needed more of the warmth from Entreri's body. Without waiting for the assassin to reply he started to gently nip at his throat. Then he rolled over on top of him and started biting his neck. Artemis smiled as Drizzt began to get more and more insistent. Eager hands found their way into his pants and began to stroke him. Drizzt moaned hungrily as Artemis grinded his body into his hand. He moaned again as his lover's strong arms wrapped around him and switched their positions.

Drizzt easily removed the assassin's shirt with one hand then explored the rest of his lean muscled chest. Artemis removed Drizzt's hand from his pants and fully pinned the drow onto the bed even though he knew that Drizzt was not about to go anywhere. The ranger, already topless sighed deeply as Artemis began to lick his way up his neck and then slipped down between his legs, biting up the edge of his pants and letting them snap back down onto his bare skin. Drizzt bit his lip eagerly and shyly asked, "Are you going to do it now?"

"Shhh..." Artemis hushed him and his slender hands danced across the ranger's beltline, tickling and teasing him. He gently untied the laces to the pants and slid them off of the drow's small body, fully admiring his beautiful figure. Smiling evilly he brushed the tip of his tongue over the slit in the drow's weeping sex earning a small, delighted sound of approval from Drizzt who was by now ready to do anything Artemis wanted. "Spread your legs." Artemis whispered softly. He let out a smooth chuckle as Drizzt instantly complied. "Do you want me?" he asked teasing the drow further and then slipping a moistened finger into the drow's tight entrance.

"Yes!" Drizzt moaned. This feeling was entirely new. It hurt slightly but he found that it was only adding to his pleasure. Pleasure that increased as Artemis moved it in and out of him and then added another one. His hips bucked in pure bliss as the assassin continued to play with him. "More!" he begged. "I want more!"

More than ready to comply, Entreri freed himself of his pants and prepared himself to enter the drow. He held in a low groan as his oil slicked hand stroked his erection. He put Drizzt's legs up on his shoulders and entered him in one swift motion. Drizzt first cried out in pain but it lessoned as he grew accustomed to the feeling of a hard cock inside him. "More, More!" he screamed in ecstasy. Artemis thrust harder in response, then to the drow's brief disappointment he pulled out and flipped him over. Drizzt was about to protest the action but his lover thrust back in hard as before, renewing both of their cries of passion. From this new angle, Artemis was directly hitting his sweet spot. And he never even knew he had it!

Drizzt bit into his pillow as the assassin began to stroke his hard length. Behind him, Entreri grasped is hips tightly with one hand and forcing him down harder. He knew that Drizzt was about to cum. He wanted it and he could feel it in the way the drow's smooth inner walls gripped him tightly. He leaned over Drizzt's back to whisper in his ear. "Come on, cum for me." Drizzt moaned his name in response. All at once everything became blindingly bright. Drizzt's hot essence covered his hand and the drow came again right after. Not ready to stop yet Artemis aimed another thrust at his sweet spot causing Drizzt to cum for a third time. He came right after that, the two climaxed together crying out the other's name in his moment of the purest ecstasy.

"That was amazing..." Drizzt breathed contently. "I love you."

On the other side of the bed Artemis smiled back at him. "I love you too." he whispered. "Ready to go back to sleep?" he asked with a chuckle. Drizzt snuggled back into his embrace and quickly fell into an easy sleep. Kagome was out of his reach for some reason. But for some reason this did not bother him as much as it should have. Right now he was safe with Artemis and that was all that mattered. He did not remain awake long enough to find those thoughts baffling.

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It was almost midnight. That made it a full day she had been gone.

Kagome chanted softly within her circle. The stones glowed one at a time with each different arcane phrase she used. Each word was long dawn, calling out to a being she had yet to really know. All she knew was that this being would not hurt her even though it most likely could. She knew it was powerful even though she did not know who it was. It had explained some of itself that morning when she was shaping the figure in the clay sarcophagus. It said it was female, she had not detected a lie. No name had yet been offered but she had a small idea as to who it was. After all, why had it asked her to take those specific clothes from Nira?

She still had no idea what she was going to do with the ring. It had remained in her pouch since she had retrieved it from Kitana. Zakhra had indeed wanted it before and had used the guildmaster the demoness had killed as a way to get it. He had not been expecting the guildmaster to hire Kitana, who in return pilfered the item and killed him.

Kagome entered the second phase of her casting easily. It was mostly a lot of meditation now. She had to wait for the being to be able to fully come to her. Then she had to make herself compatible with it. The sarcophagus could not be opened for another day or so but she felt that there would be a battle later today. She needed the being in order to win this battle.

Within her meditation a few spirits pointed out to Kagome that her friends were on the way. They had discovered the teleportation spell in her amulet and intended to use it to get to her. They told her that they would get to her early in the afternoon and before the battle. They also warned her that they must not see what she was working on in the cave. They would not like it if they found out before the battle and the information could be garnered from them by the enemy and used against her. Kagome told the spirits not to worry, she would keep her work well hidden. She would seal the cave after she was done with this part of the spell and come back when it was safe. The being that had been speaking to her agreed that this was the best plan of action.

The entire outer ring of the circle glowed a deep purple. This part was now complete and she could leave. Another figure in the cave stepped out from behind a rock. "You are serious about doing this." she stated calmly.

"I am." Kagome answered even though it was not a question. "Will you stay here and guard over the place?"

"I will. I at least owe that much to you."

"You'll be sealed in after I leave." Kagome said to the figure who just nodded. She wasn't concerned about being stuck in the cave for a while. "Thank you Kikyo."


	26. Chapter 25: When The Swords Glow White

A/N: Bet you weren't expecting that to happen were you? In case anyone was wondering, I don't hate Kikyo. It's not her fault she got brought back to life in a clay body that needed Kagome's soul. I do not, however, like Inuyasha (I don't really hate him either). He isn't the nicest person around, especially to Kagome. But now that he has been effectively put in his place it doesn't really matter. Look for a possible future appearance by him. Kikyo will be seen again as she has become slightly more important. Moving on, look out for what Kagome was cooking in that sarcophagus, who Kagome was talking to (the voice, not Kikyo) and the final battle.

Disclaimer: Drizzt and Co. belong to R.A.S. Kagome belongs to Rumiko Takahashi as do anyone else from Inuyasha. I have no intention to steal them. Anyone else is most likely mine unless otherwise claimed. The rock I just found on my desk is mine too. Thank you, have a lovely day/afternoon/evening.

Warning: Violence, blood and gore, slash, foul language and spelling errors.

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Chapter Twenty-five: When The Swords Glow White

The amulet was glowing again. From what Jarlaxle and Kimmuriel had been able to learn about the thing, there was a teleportation spell in it that could be used multiple times to get to Kagome or somewhere safe. Upon learning about the spell, Drizzt had demanded that they use it to go to her. The others, a little frightened by his anger told him that they would of course be going to get her. They just had to find out how to use the amulet itself.

Drizzt knew that the others were right, they couldn't get to Kagome if they didn't know how to use the amulet. He remembered that she said in her letter that she had left it so they could find her. Obviously she knew more about the thing than any of the companions did, but she had written it like she assumed they knew. Or maybe, the ranger thought, she knew they would know and they weren't going about it the right way. Drizzt turned to Kimmuriel who was currently staring at the amulet. "Have you tried talking to it?" he asked. Kimmuriel looked up at him with an irritated look. "I mean it. Have you asked it with your powers to show you how to use it?" he continued. The psionicist still was glaring at him. Apparently he had not.

"Why would I do that?" he finally asked in answer.

"It's Kagome." Drizzt stated as though it should be obvious. "If she knew we wouldn't know how to use it, she would not have left it for us. She would have made it very simple for us to use because she knows we would have asked her about it."

Kimmuriel sighed in defeat. "I suppose it is worth a try. We haven't discovered anything yet, what's the worst it could do?" He closed his eyes and focused on aligning his energies with that of the amulet. It was not long before a little voice asked _'Can I help you?'_ Kimmuriel did as Drizzt had suggested and asked the voice if it could tell him the proper way to use the amulet. _"Oh sure! What do you want to use?'_ was its happy reply. Trust Kagome to have something so eager to help, he thought and then asked it how to use the teleportation spell. _"Oh that's easy! All you have to do is say the command word. It's 'Niret'. Just make sure if there's more than one person going that they're all touching so no one gets left behind._ Kimmuriel thanked the voice and withdrew his energy wondering why he hadn't thought of doing what he had just done before. He had contemplated it briefly but had figured that its power would be too much for him to get past in such a way. In any case, now he knew how to use the teleportation spell.

"I know how to use it." Kimmuriel stated as he opened his eyes. The others gave him their immediate attention. "All we have to do is say the command word. Get in a circle around me and one of you put your hand on my shoulder." The others did exactly as he said, Jarlaxle took his place behind the psionicist and lightly put a hand on his shoulder. When they were all ready Kimmuriel said the command word and they all vanished from the temple.

Within the next few moments they had landed deep in a forest somewhere. They had no idea where exactly it was but saw a castle some distance away. No doubt it belonged to the demon. Something else they noticed instantly, was that Kagome was no where in sight. They had wanted the amulet to bring them directly to Kagome, and she wasn't there.

"Now what?" Entreri asked no one in particular.

Drizzt stepped off a few feet and began looking around. "She's been here." He said to the others without looking up. "These tracks are only a few hours old. They head off into the woods and probably lead to that castle. If we go now we may be able to catch up with her."

The others hastily agreed and followed Drizzt into the woods. The figure in the cave watched them passively. She knew that they would get to Kagome. Inside she could hear the kiln, it was going to be ready soon. Kagome would be back in time and if she wasn't, Kikyo was certain she knew what to do. She had been brought back the same way after all, just with a different intent. Her admiration for Kagome had only grown when she learned what the young woman was planning to do with the kiln. She was only doing it out of pure necessity and the desire to protect her friends. She also knew from experience that it would be only a minor thing or Kagome to bring the body back to true life. The spirit was already waiting. But Kagome had taken the spirit with her. Kikyo did not need to be told what was about to happen. She looked forlornly at the ring in the center of Kagome's circle, it was glowing now, it knew its purpose.

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Getting through the forest had been easy. At first she had been compelled to walk through it knowing that there was only minor reason to rush. She could have waited until the next day to go when the body in the kiln was done. Then she sensed that the others were on there way to her. She had decided to run. Kagome knew that they would lose her tracks after she had began to run, she had been moving so fast her feet had barely been touching the ground. Now she stood in one of the hallways of Zakhra's castle. The corridor itself was not long, the depth of the darkness would beg to differ but Kagome knew better. She had been here before. Her steps were completely silent as she made her way down. Zakhra was somewhere in the bowls of the castle she could sense him somewhere below her.

Kagome wasn't the slightest bit worried about confronting him. If she died, then no matter how much she really didn't want to, she died. She was ready and there would be no fighting death if it came. The prospect was not pleasant but she had to accept it. A small sound caused her to freeze in place. she waited a few minutes before she realized that it was just a harmless stone falling from the ceiling of the corridor. Kagome almost laughed despite herself. She was being paranoid. While it was a good idea to be cautious, she realized that she was over doing it. Her instincts told here that there was nothing remotely threatening nearby, save for the demon below her somewhere in the castle.

Kagome made it to the set of double doors that would teleport her down. Before opening them she took out Radiant Death and the Charon's Claw. Both swords pulsed eagerly. They knew that a battle approached, they wanted it. "It's time now." Kagome whispered though there was no one around. "I'm ready to die, you understand that. I need your help now, I can't do this without you. You will help me, wont you? I can imagine you want him gone just as much as I do, probably more. After what he did to you I'm not surprised. You've already done a lot for me, I'll understand if you want to leave now and wait for your body to be done. I'm sure Kikyo knows what to do."

A gentle breeze caressed her face. The voice from before whispered back to her. _'I will not leave you little one. Do not be afraid. Let us join form, we will face him together.'_

"Yes." Kagome replied. "That's what we should do. Are you ready?"

_'I am ready whenever you are little one.'_

Kagome closed her eyes and opened herself to the voice. The spirit entered her body easily, they were already much alike and held many of the same principals. The spirit had no desire to harm her, this was proven by the newly warm feeling circulating throughout Kagome's flesh. The young woman was the stronger of the two but the spirit was fairly close. "Let's go." Kagome whispered and she pushed open the doors and was instantly teleported to the chamber of the demon lord.

Zakhra was caught by surprise, he had not even considered the possibility of her being able to find him. And now here she was. He was barely able to get his sword up to block her charging attack. She did not look too concerned that he had, there was something different about her somehow but he did not have time to think about it as she launched another fast attack. For a moment Zakhra thought he had pinned her sword down, she looked like she was about to drop it but instead brought it up in a wild arc and knocked his sword back. Radiant Death came up right behind it in a short stab and barely managed to slice through the side of his armor. The demon thrust his sword at her in a poor attempt at disarming her. Kagome was much too fast for something like that and she easily side stepped to the left causing his thrust to miss her completely. She threw herself back in, the Charon's Claw bared forward in a straight-line thrust at the demons belly. Again the changed the angle of her attack and sliced the other side of his armor. She spun the blades wildly in front of herself scoring a few more minor injuries, she wasn't doing any obvious damage but she didn't have to. Kagome had something else in mind.

"You seem to be losing your touch " Zakhra mocked as he dodged a hit . Unknown to him it was just a feint. Kagome's face remained completely blank as if she could not hear him. Radiant Death came up in an arc again and landed a deep slash to his shoulder. Zakhra growled in pain as he began to figure out that there had to be more to her actions than he had thought of. He bared his fangs and pivoted back not realizing that this was exactly what she wanted. He had given her enough room to lunge forward with both swords swinging down to cross and leave a wide X in his armor. What was she doing?

Zakhra managed to regain enough movement to thrust his sword at her again, he scored a hit on her arm but she didn't even flinch. She came on harder, sparks literally flying from their weapons. She commanded Charon's Claw to make the wall of ash as she had seen Artemis do At first the sword wanted to refuse but it knew that its master would not be happy and might discard it if it failed her. It did as she commanded and the thick wall of ash appeared before the demon causing him to once again jump back. Like the many who Artemis had fought before using the same method, he dove through the wall of ash only to find that the girl was gone. He looked up in time to she her jumping down on him her sword poised to kill. He was not fast enough to completely dodge the attack and a deep gash spread its way down his back. He howled with the impact. How that sword burned! But which one was it? They were now both equally painful to him. He cursed the swords even more as she cut another line on his cheek with Radiant Death.

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They lost her tracks only a few hundred feet into the forest. Drizzt cried in irritation. Now where had she gone? They were saved by Nira who quickly found her scent and took the lead. Nira felt something warning him in his mind. They had to go faster if they wanted to get to Kagome in time. He told the others to hang onto him, he was going to run. Artemis decided to try out his own speed and told his father that he would run alongside him. When he offered to carry some of the others, Nira told him to take Drizzt and he would carry the others.

They ran together as fast as they could. To them the weight of the others was only a small thing. They reached the castle shortly thereafter. The doors were sealed shut but that was not about to stop Nira who gathered his energy in a large orb before him and threw it into the doors. They cracked but did not break. Nira launched another booming attack then threw himself into the doors as hard as he could. They still held

"What are we going to do if you can't break those doors?" Jarlaxle inquired, causing Nira to stop his next attack. Nira looked at him incredulously.

"If I can't break the doors like this then I'll transform and see what that does. If I can't do it that way, we will find another way." Nira ended his response by once again gathering his energy, this time he brought it into his fist as he slammed into the door. This time it shattered upon impact. wood splinters flew everywhere and the companions had to duck for cover lest they get hit. When the shower ended they raced through the hallways once again led by Nira who followed Kagome's scent.

The breaking of the doors alerted the denizens of the castle to their presence. Nira hacked through most of them easily. the ones that he missed were brought down by the singing blades of the companions who were better off fighting demons now that they knew how to. To their surprise, many of their attackers were human. They chose not to think about this as they cut them down. All they cared about was getting to Kagome. From the sounds emanating from the castle, there was an intense battle going on somewhere within. The energy in the air around them sparked with a familiar presence. Kagome had found the demon and was fighting him. They had to get to her. The companions were momentarily baffled by the doors at the end of the corridor. Not caring where they went they pushed through and were teleported like Kagome before them into the demon's chamber.

They arrived in time to witness Zakhra land a deadly blow to Kagome.

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It hurt but she didn't care. This was what she had been waiting for. Kagome heard someone scream her name. Several people her mind registered. But she didn't care. She knew what she had to do. She landed with a hard thud on the stone floor. Zakhra's wicked laughter filled her ears and completely drowned out anything her friends were trying to say to her. She felt someone get near her, a warm hand on her face. She heard the ring of steel and a surprised gasp from one of her friends. Nira was yelling now she realized. He had taken a sword from Artemis who had not been expecting the action. Nira was holding Zakhra off now but he wouldn't be able to for long.

'Are you ready to come out now?' she asked the spirit inside her.

_'I am ready little one.'_

Drizzt backed off as Kagome's body began to glow. Amazed he watched her get back to her feet. Everyone in the room froze as she stood up straight. The light from her body flowed into Radiant Death and the Charon's Claw. The swords shone pure white and she opened her eyes. "You're dead." she promised Zakhra and leapt back into battle with him. Nira started to help her but backed off when he saw the deadly look in her eyes. that look was familiar to him and not quite Kagome.

Kagome herself wasn't quite ready to win. The Sacred Jewel lay silently around her neck, she had to use it now. She made her wish. "Someone help me protect them!" she cried in Japanese. Something thundered in the room. Her body changed form and the spirit inside her swelled. Kagome felt herself going to sleep, but it was nothing. The spirit was going to take over now ad the swords were still glowing. She knew that Zakhra had no chance of winning this battle now.

The pink light from the jewel disappeared. Instead of Kagome, a woman slightly taller with long, dark brown hair and lightly cinnamon skin stood in her place. Her grey eyes were darker than Kagome's but were matched perfectly with Artemis. The Charon's Claw and Radiant Death were switched in her hands, she favored the straight blade and it was hers after all. "You had to know that it was only a matter of time." she stated calmly to Zakhra who's face was an expression of the purest horror. "Tell me." she continued with the same deadly tone. "Do you know what happens when these swords glow white?"

Zakhra was held in a paralyzing spell. He was done and he knew it. She gracefully stepped forward, both swords held out to her sides. "Do you know what happens?" she asked again even though he could do nothing to answer. He would not even be able to scream. "You die." she answered her own question, emphasizing her point by planting both swords through his chest. The light from the Charon's Claw turned red and he was set aflame. Radiant Death remained white and flared. The look of horror never left his face as both swords devoured and destroyed him completely.

She easily pulled the swords out of the stone floor and turned to the others without placing them back in their sheaths. "We have to go now, the battle is not over and the castle is going to fall."

Nira's eyes were still as wide as they were when she had first appeared. "Shanali?" he gasped

She smiled softly. "Yes Nira. But we don't have time for this now. We have to go." She replaced Radiant Death in its sheath and nudged him forward with her now free hand. "Someone else is waiting for us. He is clearing the way but he does not have long."

"Who is it?" Nira asked. Shanali turned to Drizzt and told him that it was someone he had missed. She reiterated that they did not have much time and they followed her through the castle without further debate. Only a few enemies leapt out at them. They were quickly silenced by the Charon's Claw. The sword seemed to be overjoyed with the return of its mistress.

A large demon was thrown into the wall ahead of him. Everyone but Shanali tensed. A dark figure came around the corner and wiped his swords on his fallen foe before turning to smile at them. "It has been a while." he greeted. "What? No hug?" he feigned disappointment as he looked to Drizzt who wore a dumbfounded look. The ranger briefly wondered what was with himself and why he had been so emotional and easily confused over the last few months. Then he gave up on those thoughts and slung his arms around the person he had indeed been missing for a long time.

"How are you here?" he asked.

"Your friend brought me back for this battle." Zaknafien replied. "I believe her words were 'Someone please help me protect them.' So now I am here protecting you. But Shanali is right, we must move. The way out is clear."

They resumed their wild run and made it out the smashed doors just as the castle fell. Nira and Shanali carried them all to safety and landed in the same clearing where they arrived hoping to meet Kagome earlier that day.

"Right, now how are you two back?" Nira gasped.

"Kagome brought us back." Shanali replied. "Zaknafien does not have much more time, he is back solely on the power of the jewel. She called my spirit back and we are sharing a form."

"Is Kagome-" Drizzt started to ask.

"No." Shanali intercepted him. "She is here she's just sleeping. Actually, she wanted to talk to you Nira. She has something to show you." She turned her attention back to Drizzt. "I would advise you to go spend some time with your father. I do not know how long he has." The ranger nodded and he and Zak walked off into the woods. "Now then, Artemis why don't you give your mother a hug?" The latter bit his lip and nodded, throwing himself into his mothers arms for the first time in about thirty years. He buried his face into her but did not cry, he never cried. Shanali knew the front for what it was and gently ran her fingers through his hair. "There's my baby." she whispered. They stayed in the tight embrace for a few minutes before Shanali informed them that Kagome would like to speak to them.

Artemis watched wide-eyed as his mothers form shrunk back down to her host's size and her skin became much paler. Their positions were switched, Artemis was now holding Kagome. She smiled up at him uneasily and got to her feet and faced Nira. "Please don't get mad at me." she said. She showed them the cave and unsealed it. Upon seeing her Kikyo let out a sigh of relief and asked her if it was time. The kiln was ready to be opened. Kagome stood in her circle and levitated the sarcophagus out of it, she used the fire enchantment in the ring to break it and then it vanished.

Inside the sarcophagus lay the naked form of the one who moments ago stood in front of them, arms crossed over her bare breasts. Her eyes were closed and she was made of clay. "It's only temporary." Kagome told Nira. "I'm bringing her back. I can bring her back like I did with Kikyo."

"Did she agree to this?" he replied, he voice shook from the sight of the clay imitation of his mate. Kagome nodded. "Then be on with it." he said and he looked away.

Kagome began her chant once more. The spirit of Shanali erupted out of her body and into the new one. As the spirit entered the clay form Kagome used the same spell she had on Kikyo months before. Shanali sat up grinning and completely alive.

"Do you think I can have my clothes now?" she asked playfully. Kagome promptly handed them to her and the demoness put them on. Shanali stretched, reaching for the ceiling of the cave. "Let's go outside now. I want to see it as myself." She ran out of the cave childishly, tugging on Nira as she passed. Once out of the cave she tackled him to the ground and touched her mate mark on his neck. He touched his on her in return. "I missed you." she said to him as she rubbed her nose against his.

Drizzt returned to the clearing alone, he was not upset at all. He was at peace right now. His father had returned to the spirit world and he had Kagome back. He was happy that Artemis now had both parents. Artemis wrapped his arms around him and then pushed him over to Kagome. Not needing the prompting he ran over to her and captured her in a tight embrace. She looked up at him and smiled, "Let's go home."


	27. Epilogue: Returning Home

A/N? I'm screaming like a fangirl people! The story is almost done and this is the last chapter of Waking Destiny! I hope you have enjoyed reading it cause I know I loved writing it. I could have ended it in the last chapter but there's just one more thing that needs to be talked about. I shall leave you alone to read now. I have another story in progress, coming to soon!

Disclaimer: You know what? I typed this thing out enough times. You all know by now that I don't own anyone that I haven't claimed as mine so I think for the sake of getting this done, look in the last chapter if you want a disclaimer.

Happy reading!

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Epilogue: Returning Home

"Immota! Immota!" Amon cried running down the temple stairs. He wrapped his arms around his sister who held him right back. The twins were together again. Their friends looked on smiling as the cried together.

"I was so scared immota. I thought you wouldn't come back." Amon cried into Kagome's hair.

"It's okay Amon, I'm back now. It's all over. We don't have to worry about it anymore." She tried to comfort her brother even though tears streamed down her face as well. A sudden idea formed in her mind. There was still one thing she had left to do, she owed her brother that much. "I want to take you somewhere." Kagome said to him.

Amon looked at her questioningly and wiped away his tears. Kagome gave him no answer other than telling him to go get his things, she wanted to get going right away. "But you just got back." He replied still confused. "Don't you want to see everyone?"

"It can wait." Kagome answered. "This is more important."

Amon finally turned and got his things from the temple. Nagaira followed behind him for some reason. It didn't matter if he came along to, he was Amon's partner so he had the right. Kagome looked to her friends and told them that they were welcome to follow. Where they were going wasn't far. There was still something sad in Kagome's demeanor, they chose not to question her though, they knew that they would find out soon enough. She asked Kimmuriel for her amulet, he returned it wordlessly. The companions followed Kagome and Amon to wherever it was they were going.

As had often been the irony, the sky let loose a gentle fall of rain. It was strange that the weather was reflecting the sadness they sensed in Kagome. No one said a word as they navigated the streets of Tokyo. She led them to the other side of the city. Amon began to figure out where his sister was taking them. Nagaira also formed a vague idea. Twenty minutes later their suspicions were verified as they crested a large hill and gazed upon the mostly fallen house at its top.

"Why are we here Kagome?" Amon asked in a whisper. It was strange to be at their old house again. He had thought it was completely destroyed.

"I want to tell you what happened." Kagome replied as she turned to her brother. Amon swallowed hard. He had not been expecting this either. "You know that they were killed right after we turned five. I stayed at home with mom and dad while you went over to play with one of your friends. That day started out alright. Mom and dad sparred for a few hours like always and then played with me for a little while before mom took a nap. Dad and I watched a movie while she was sleeping then Zakhra came to the house.

Dad told me to him to leave and mom came running out of their room and told me to hide under the couch. I did. Zakhra threw the door down and he and dad began to fight. Somehow he managed to run them both through after a few traded hits. He set the house on fire but for some reason he didn't know I was there. I came out after I heard him leave, but it was too late. I remember trying to wake them up and they wouldn't. Shiara came and pulled me out of the house a couple minutes later, before the roof caved in."

The twins shared more tears as they gazed on the wreckage. "Thank you Kagome." Amon whispered. Now he knew.

Kagome did not look away from the house. "I want to do something more for them." she said.

"What do you want to do?" her brother asked.

"I want to burn it down." Kagome finally turned to him. "I think it's the right thing to do." Amon agreed and they joined hands. Together the twins loosed their fire at the house, devouring it once and for all. There was nothing left of the wreckage but ashes and the cleaned aura of what had been there before. Their magic caused the gardens to take over. Flowers covered everything but the spot where their parents had fallen. Instead, two trees grew over the spots, each carrying the image of their parents. The twins smiled at their work. Together, still holding hands, they walked back to the temple to officially tell everyone what had happened.

Zakhra was gone and their parents had been avenged and they still had each other. Their friends followed closely behind them, even Jarlaxle had nothing to say. They would joke about that later, but for now they were content to walk in silence as their memories washed over them.


End file.
